


My First Promise

by Wosoworks



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:28:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 75
Words: 147,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7409419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wosoworks/pseuds/Wosoworks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where a virus has spread turning most of the population into flesh eating zombies, a group of strangers are forced to come together in a fight for survival. Will anyone have what it takes to survive a zombie apocalypse?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> First story attempt, apologies for any mistakes. Please leave me feedback so I know to continue the story or not.

*Ashlyn's Pov*

 

I groaned as I rolled over in bed, I knew from the pounding in my head that i'd had a few drinks too many last night. The sun was streaming into the hotel room through a few cracks in the curtains. My once clean room was now cluttered with clothes and empty beer bottles, I guess I brought the party back to my room. I sat up in bed and tried to swallow, but my mouth seemed drier than the Nevada desert. Cracking a tired eye open, I found the other twin bed wasn't empty. Oh god, not again. Who have i brought back now?. As i look over to the bed, I have no idea who the person lying face first in the spare bed is. Maybe if i leave quietly before she wakes up i don't have to deal with her.

 

The clock on the nightstand read 11:30am, checking out time was 12 sharp. I quickly and quietly grabbed my scattered clothes and threw them into my bag being careful not to waken up the sleeping stranger. Just as i was grabbing the last few things remaining in my room i could hear the women stirring in her sleep. If i stand still and don't move a muscle, she might drift straight back off to sleep. So i did just that, there I was, stood in the middle of a hotel room, with a total stranger in bed and i look as though i'm mid way through a game of musical statues. If musical statues had a tournament i would win the trophy, just like that she was straight back off to sleep.  Maybe I should write her a note? apologise for bailing on her. I quickly grabbed some pen and paper and scribbled down a short apology saying I was in a rush to get home, she doesn't need to know i'm planning on going to McDonald's for food instead, right?

As i bent over to place the note on her pillow beside her head i heard a low growl come from her, like nothing i'd ever heard before. I've heard plenty of people snoring or talking in their sleep, but this was a growl, a viscous sounding growl. If shes this intimidating when shes asleep, I don't want to see her awake. As i pull away to leave the room i get a waft of her scent, it's almost indescribable. She smells like rotten flesh, where did i find this woman? was she homeless? a night on the town cant possibly leave you smelling this bad! 

Quietly i creep into the bathroom to wash before i get out of here, I glared at my reflection in the mirror, I looked like hell. Being dragged through a bush springs to mind. I quickly whip my hair up in a bun, I'm definitely not winning any beauty pageants today but I have a hangover, what's to be expected. I grab the key card, pick up my bags and quickly leave the room, as i close the door I hear it latch securely shut behind me.

 

I hear noises coming from somewhere in the hotel, but oddly the hallway is completely empty of people. I stroll down the hallway in a world of my own, as i'm passing a hotel room door a loud banging coming from behind the door catches me off guard, making me jump across the hall. Clearly some people are still partying hard! i cover my heart with my hand and feel the rapid heartbeat, that's not what i needed with a hangover like this!

 

Random bits of luggage and room service trays littered the hallway, making me regret ignoring all those TripAdvisor reviews i read. I make a mental note to take reviews more seriously in future. The smell of stale food hung in the air, the bright lights were burning my eyes, or that might just be my hangover, who knows? 

As i made my way to the elevator i was just praying i didn't have to share it with anyone, I wasn't in the mood to make small talk, not today. To my luck, the doors opened to reveal an empty elevator. I quickly pressed to go to the ground floor before anyone had a chance to get in, just before the doors close I heard it again, that all familiar growl, the same sound i heard in the room. The doors closed before i could adjust my eyes to the figure i seen standing at the bottom of the hallway. All i could see was the outline of a woman, she looked hunched over, like she was still half asleep. hey, at least i wasn't the only one with a stinking hangover!

 

The doors open with a buzzing sound and i step out into the lobby, it's completely empty of people, not even a receptionist at the desk. Good thing there's not an emergency and i'm not in need of urgent help. I quickly walk over to the front desk to see if there is anyone sitting behind it out of sight, but no, nobody. Usually there is always someone at the front desk, even if its just someone sat behind the desk with a phone glued to their ear. I'm starting to wonder if i slept through a fire alarm or something, surely i wasn't drunk enough to be in that deep a sleep. As i'm looking around the lobby I hear my stomach grumbling, I rarely go past 8am without eating, it's nearly 12 no wonder it's complaining.

I slowly make my way towards the buffet area, as i look around everything is set up, but nothing looked like it had been touched. Strange considering it was already the afternoon. I was expecting to be left with stale cereal and that dodgy looking sausage that everyone had touched but nobody wanted. I decided to pour myself some coffee from the machine, just watching the steam waft up from the cup, and inhaling the smell alone was enough to help this hangover. I started looking around to see what was going on, and possibly speak to a maid to apologise about the mess i left my room in. All the tables in the dining room area were empty. A noise that sounded like someone eating caught my attention, I walked over to the booths that lined the walls

"Hello?" i called out as i walked round the booths.

Nothing could have prepared me for the sight i walked into. A woman covered in blood, was hunched over something. I couldn't see what she was kneeling over at first glance, so i moved for a better look. My movement must have caught her attention because she slowly lifted her head to look at me. Her shirt was torn down the front revealing her bra and deep scratch marks on her chest. While i was caught in a trance staring at the marks she snarled at me, flecks of whatever she was eating sprayed onto me from her red stained lips. This was enough to make me take a few steps back.

She slowly got up from the side of the booth, all her attention was focused on me. It was like i was the only thing left in the world. As she stood, it revealed to me what she had previously been kneeling over.  _Holy shit! it can't be! oh my god, holy shit!_ it was a man! There was a huge gaping hole in the mans body, his intestines were dangling from his body, and the woman still had part of them held tightly in her hand. I retched at the sight of it all, is this a dream? this can't be real, have I woke up on the set of a horror movie?

The woman had managed to move closer to me while i was busy staring at the sight before me. This is the point where i took off running, hopefully all these years playing soccer help me out here. I was running as fast as i could back the way i'd come, my earlier fatigue from lack of sleep and my hangover was well and truly gone, it had been replaced with pure adrenaline pumping through my body. The woman didn't appear to have any weapons on her, or at least none that i'd seen, but i still didn't want her to catch me. A human can do a lot of damage with just their body, that man lying dead on the floor being exhibit "A". I could hear the woman behind me snapping her jaws and snarling. She hadn't actually said a word since I lay eyes on her, just made god awful noises. 

I made the rookie mistake of looking back causing me to slow my stride, this gave the woman the opportunity to lunge at me, her hands caught my ankles and i went down with her. I felt like the dumb blonde that falls over a tree branch in horror movies before she dies. I thrashed my body around wildly no to avail, she had managed to crawl her way up my body. She smelt the exact same way as the woman i found in my room this morning, if i wasn't so busy trying to get her off of me i'd probably have thrown up at the sheer smell of her. My shirt had ridden up from all the movement and I screamed in pain as the woman raked her nails up my bare sides, tearing my skin as she goes.

Desperate, I grabbed at her hair and yanked her to the side of me. this was enough to topple her over, with my legs finally free of her body weight, I kicked my foot out as hard as i could, connecting with her head which rolled her body a few feet away from me. Clutching my bleeding side, I got up and started running again not bothering to look over my shoulder this time to see where the woman was, I was focused totally on getting out of here and getting help. I ran straight passed the elevator in the lobby and chose to head for the stairs instead, I pushed the latch on the door, bursting through and i bounded up the stairs two at a time. The crazy woman who had recovered from my kick to her head threw her body weight at the door, causing it to open for her. I took a second to look over the railing to see her body sprawled out on the stairs, like a drunken teenager at a house party. The momentum from going through the door had obviously caused her to trip and land on the stairs. She whipped her head up and made eye contact with me and then snarled, clawing at fresh air as if she could reach me from her position.  _what is this women's problem?_

I wasted no more time, I ran up to the third floor entrance. Once i was through i sprinted down the hallway dodging the various trays and pieces of luggage I was just about to reach for my key card and unlock my room door when I heard a growl come from behind it. The woman I had left in my room, she sounds, and smells like the crazy woman from the lobby, that can't be a coincidence, right? I wasn't risking it, instead I done a 180 spin and started banging on the door behind me praying someone was in and would open up for a crazy stranger banging on their room door. To my delight the door flew open and I fell inside, I heard the door click, giving me the comfort of knowing I was safe inside from the crazy woman. The hangover, the Shock, The running, it had all taken it's toll. Everything was turning black around me. The last thing I seen before I passed out was the most beautiful hazel brown eyes I have ever seen.


	2. The Unknown Saviour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashlyn awakes in Ali's room and they both get a better understanding of what's happening.

*Ashlyn's Pov*

 

I awoke in a room, it felt like it was spinning. Am i still drunk?

I slowly try to sit up and then I feel a hand press against my shoulder to stop me. That's when it all comes rushing back, the dead man on the ground, the woman chasing me, the fight, the escape, and then the strangers room!

I throw myself off the bed and onto my feet, it takes my eyes a moment to adjust to being awake but when they do, I see her. The stranger that opened the door, the stranger that opened the door meaning i could escape from the deranged woman chasing me. The stranger that saved my life without even knowing it. The stranger. 

She walks across the room towards me and places both hands on my shoulders and mumbles a quick "Calm down, calm down and tell me what happened".

My shoulders slumped in relief as my adrenaline drained away. 

 

I just laughed, all I could do was laugh at this moment. She wants me to tell her what happened? She wants me to tell her about how i'm pretty sure we're in some sort of a Zombie Apocalypse?  I'm sure that will go down a treat! "Hi, i'm Ashlyn Harris and you just saved me from being eaten by a Zombie outside your room door"

It wasn't until I looked up and seen her facial expression that I realised I had spaced out and said everything out loud. She look amused, as though I had lost the plot and then her eyes took in my body. I followed her stare until her eyes landed on my side. My bleeding side, with claw marks as evidence of what i'd just been through. The stranger in front of me gave me a look, no words had to be said, I knew she was asking for permission to have a closer look at my wounds so I just give her a nod. She slowly and carefully lifts up my shirt and gasps at the bloody nail marks that cover my side. After running to the bathroom she re-appears with a towel and she gently places it against my wound making me wince. 

For the first time since seeing the stranger, I take the time to have a good look at her and take in her appearance. She's absolutely beautiful, I've never seen anyone look so effortlessly beautiful. From the the Hazel brown eyes to the adorable smile.  _Shit, the smile! She caught me staring!_

"Alexandra Krieger, but call me Ali, please"I barely even register what she's just said, i'm too busy taking in her appearance. Once I finally snap out of it I feel my cheeks begin to burn up as she stands with an outstretched hand waiting for my response. I don't even answer her, I just shake her hand until I hear her voice again "And you are?"

"Oh...sorry, Ashlyn, Ashlyn Harris" I say

"Ok Ashlyn, the bleeding has to stop before we can treat your would" Ali said. "I'm going to call the front desk and see if they have someone who is first aid qualified"

"Don't bother," I said. "There's nobody down there. Well, no one helpful."

"What do you mean?" She asks, the receiver against her ear. She gave me an odd look while pressing buttons to make the call to the front desk

"No one is answering" she mumbles. 

"Like i said, they aren't going to be much help."

 

I applied more pressure to the wound. The pain was getting much worse, so i got up and walked slowly to the bathroom to soak the towel in cold water. The freezing towel felt wonderful against my burning side and I sighed in relief as I sat down on the edge of the bath. I kick away the pile of old, dirty towels lying on the floor. This hotel will be getting a nasty review when I leave!

 

"So what happened?" Ali asks appearing in the doorway with her arms folded. 

"Did you not hear what I said earlier Ali, i don't even know. Some crazy woman attacked me in the dining area!" I didn't mention that she had cracked open a dead guy like a lobster dinner at this point. Somehow I don't think she would believe me; I still can't believe it myself.

"Where was everyone else when this was happening?"

"Ali, there's no one down there, not even at the reception," I said monotone. It all felt so surreal, like maybe I had just imagined the whole thing, after effects of all the alcohol maybe.

"should I call 911?"

A flash of anger shot through me, it's like she wasn't hearing a thing I just said. It only lasted for a split second and then it was gone. I realise how full on this must seem, I witnessed it all with my own eyes and still can't take it all in, I can't blame her for not understanding it all. 

"I don't know, I don't know what to do Ali, maybe i should go to hospital; that woman looked sick, I think I might need a shot. She was like something from a zombie movie!"

The bleeding had finally subsided. So I applied some band aids, they didn't cover the whole length of the scratches so I stuck on as many as it took to cover the three angry marks.  _Oh god, what if she has gave me something?_

 

I looked into the mirror. Other than being pale, which was a regular occurrence, I didn't look sick. Not that I'd be able to tell so soon. I'll need a blood test to be sure. The pain in my side was the only symptom I could feel. But then again, I wasn't a doctor  _  
_

I left the bathroom and sat down on the side of the bed near the side table.

"What are you doing?" Ali asked, following me into the room.

"I'm going to give my Gran a call and see what she suggests i do." I dug out my phone from my back pocket and began typing in the number.

I've always hated going to doctors, let alone hospitals. The call finally started ringing, with each ring I could feel myself holding the phone tighter and tighter. I hung up and tried again only to get the same result. My heart rate started to pick up as panic set in. I jumped up and grabbed the television remote, turning on the hotel flat screen.

 

"What are you doing? TV? Really?" Ali shook her head "We should be getting you to a hospital, Ashlyn"

I just ignored her as I flipped through the channels until I reached a local news station. A few of the channels had been out, "Technical Difficulties" displayed right across the screen. The anchor woman looked slightly hysterical as she kept doing her duty and read the news prompt:

" _There appears to be an outbreak of  viral epidemic. Some experts say it's a new strain of the flu. We advise everyone to stay inside and, if you come in contact with anyone infected, seek immediate medical assistance. Violent behaviour has been reported as  symptom of the virus; therefore victims should be avoided at all costs. The military have been dispatched in all major cities to help contain the violent individuals."_

"Holy shit" Ali said as she absentmindedly sat down on the bed with me. 

The report echoed through my head. _Am I infected with this viral thing now?_ _What kind of treatment is there for it?_ I didn't feel like I was going to have some violent outburst like the woman from downstairs. Ali just stared at me wide eyed as the news continued:

 

_"Due to the unusually high number of cases, all the mass transportation has been suspended until further notice to help contain the viral outbreak and to prevent the infection of mass numbers of people. Please arrange for other transportation or other living arrangements if you are away from home as we do not know when the airports and trains will be back to their regular schedule."_

_"_ You're fucking kidding me," Ali exhaled, rubbing her temples.

I'm stuck miles away from home with a stranger, a beautiful stranger, but a stranger none the less. I've also been chased and wounded by a crazy infected woman, could things get any worse right now?

We both jumped at the sudden onslaught of fists banging on our hotel room door. 

I take that back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if i should continue this or not, so please, leave feedback.


	3. The Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ali and Ashlyn come face to face with whoever is on the other side of the door, and make their first trip outside the hotel.

*Ashlyn's Pov*

I was caught staring at the hotel room door, just listening to the pounding coming from the other side.  I couldn't hear anything other than a fist slamming against the door, I couldn't hear growling like from the sick woman from downstairs, and I couldn't hear shouts for help. Just constant pounding. I was broken from my trance as I seen Ali get up to open the door, I quickly grabbed her wrist pulling her body into mine to prevent her from getting to the door. 

"Are you insane? It could be the crazy sick woman out there!" I say to her

"I was only going to have a look through the peep-hole" She replies. It wasn't until she spoke that I realised the position we were in. I was still holding her wrist, our bodies centimetres apart. We were so close that I could feel her breath on my lips as she spoke. Momentarily my eyes flickered to her lips, for a split second everything was fine, i hadn't been chased, I hadn't been attacked. It was just me and Ali in our own bubble. That was until a loud bang caught us off guard, causing the two of us to jump apart.

Ali walked over to the door and looked out from the peep-hole. Before I could say anything, she ripped the door open. A dishevelled woman in sweatpants and a torn t-shirt, burst into the room slamming the door behind herself.

"Lindsey, what the hell!" Ali demanded.

"Ali," she huffed,

I immediately noticed she was bleeding from a gash on her lower leg. The blood was staining her sweatpants and dripping onto the floor.

"Are you ok?" Ali asked, taking a step back from Lindsey, whose eyes were darting all over the room as though she was unable to stay focused. 

"One of," Lindsey took a deep breath to compose herself. "One of my buddies got sick I think. He bit my leg!"

Ali ran into the bathroom for our last clean towel and she pressed it against the wound on Lindsey's leg, while sitting down on the edge of the bed. Sitting seemed to calm her down, she didn't look as panicked as she did before. I noticed her looking at me. 

"I'm Ashlyn by the way," I said, giving her a noncommittal wave.

"Lindsey."

I wanted to say, yeah I got that, but I decided to bite my tongue for once. I grabbed Ali and ushered her into the bathroom.

"Eh, who's that?" I asked

"Lindsey, Lindsey Horan. I met her and her friends last night." I could tell by the look on her face she wanted to tell me more, she wishes she knew more about the injured woman, but in fact all she knew about her was her name.

"Hey, you guys seen the news?" Lindsey yelled from the other room.

"Yeah, there's some serious shit going on," Ali said leading us back to where Lindsey was. "We were about to head to the hospital."

I glared at Ali for telling her our plan, undoubtedly she would want to come with us. Although both people were strangers to me, there was something drawing me to Ali, she made me feel safe, like things were't as bad when she was around. 

"Mind if I go too? I think I need to have this looked at too," she motioned to the still bleeding wound that adorned her lower leg. See, I knew it.

"Well if we're going to do this, let's go" I sighed, grabbing my bag with all my documents in it. I mentally thanked myself at this point for being such a bitch this morning. If I wasn't in such a rush to abandon the woman in my room, I would have left without my bag meaning all my things would be trapped in my room.

The motion of putting my bag on my shoulders pulled at my wound making me wince, I hissed at the fresh wave of pain that radiated from my side. The adrenaline rushing through my body earlier must have hidden just how painful these wounds are. 

"You get bit too?" Lindsey asked.

"Scratched, by some crazy woman down in the lobby area." I answered through clenched teeth.

"Should we be going back down there then?" She asked, a scared look flashing across her face.

"How else do you suggest we get to the hospital? did you leave a helicopter on the roof for us?" I sarcastically add. 

"Call for an ambulance?"

"No ambulance would come for a scratch and a bite," Ali sighed, grabbing her purse. 

 

I had briefly thought of calling the police to report the attack, but I figured I would have to fill out something at the hospital, so I would just wait and do it all there.

"We should call a taxi though," I suggested, as the idea came to me.

Ali nodded and started flipping through the phone book beside the room phone. Once she found a number she tried to dial it. Lindsey and I just watched in silence as she held the receiver to her ear. 

"You're fucking kidding me," Ali sighed as she slammed it down "No one is answering there either!"

 

I had to admit, at this point I was starting to get freaked out by the whole situation. I was attacked by a crazy, deranged woman, who appeared to have ripped open another man earlier, the news was going on about a virus, and flights were being cancelled. This was like something straight out of a B-list Hollywood horror movie and I was having a hard time believing it was all real. Maybe I was still hungover, asleep. At that thought, hope bloomed in my chest, but then I remembered the pain from my wound and I knew I wasn't imagining it. Unfortunately, I was living it and first thing first, I needed to get my side looked at.

"Well I guess we will be walking so let's go." I said heading towards the door.

"Are you going to be able to walk?" Ali asks Lindsey.

"I should be able to hobble there, it's only going to be like a 10 minute walk from here anyways," she said, heaving herself back up to a standing position.

 

I opened the door a bit, and peaked outside, looking down the hallway for signs of any sick people. The coast was clear, so I stepped outside with the other two following behind me. Lindsey was limping, slowing us down as we walked quietly to the elevator. I wasn't going back to the stairs again and this time it had nothing to do with my laziness. Plus, Lindsey wouldn't take the stairs too well either, she was going to slow us down enough as it was.

"Should we be taking the elevator?" Lindsey asked as I pressed the button.

"Relax, the place isn't on fire."

 

The ride down was awkward, we were all looking anywhere else but at each other.  _Oh look, a stain on the floor. How interesting._ This is what I hated about elevators; they turned everyone into socially awkward weirdos. With a ding, the elevator opened up to the first floor, but none of us made a move to get out. I was just about to say 'after you' when I felt a hand slip into mine. Ali held my hand firmly giving me a warm smile. "We got this, don't worry" she said as we stepped out of the elevator together. It amazed me how such a simple gesture made me feel indestructible, I no longer felt fear, I felt on top of the world. No crazy, deranged woman could change that in this moment.

 

"Wow, there really is nobody down here," Ali says as she looks around the lobby.

"What, did you think it was all an elaborate hoax?" I said sarcastically and she glared at me, then her expression immediately softened and she gave an almost shy smile instead.

 

We walked outside and instantly, I noticed all the activity outside the hotel. Cars were rushing and honking all over the road, people were running along the sidewalks, sirens were going off all over the place. I was almost run down by some guy pushing an overflowing shopping cart he had stolen from a grocery store, but I managed to quickly push Ali to one side and jump to the other side leaving him enough space to speed between us. 

"Excuse you!" Ali yelled after the guy,but he was long gone. 

"So I don't think we will be able to get a taxi," I sighed as I started the walk to the hospital. 

 

I could see the giant H sign from our hotel, but like everywhere, all the buildings were further away than they looked. With Lindsey slowing us down and all the craziness going on, the ten minute walk would most likely be stretched out. We almost got mowed down while crossing the street and Lindsey barely hobbled out of the way in time.

"Jesus!" Lindsey yelled as she stumbled to find her footing again.

"This is like the LA riots!" Ali adds

I just laugh "Ali, what are you like 30? you must have been about 8 when the L.A riots happened," I shook my head in amusement.

"Actually Ashlyn, I'm 31 and there's this magical thing called the internet that gives you information for things that you weren't there to see happen in person," Ali replied sarcastically, giving me a soft nudge at the same time.

"Anyways, it doesn't look like there's any looting going on yet," I said and as soon as the words left my mouth, one of the store front windows crashed in on the other side of the street.

Ali shot me a smug look and I just laughed shaking my head in disbelief. I gave a quick glance over to where the noise had come from and thankfully, I didn't see anyone carrying off a TV set, but people were filing in through the broken window. Jack's pharmacy didn't stand a chance. Looking up I could see we were closer to the hospital, but a lot of traffic seemed to be heading that way so I took that as not a very good sign that I would be treated anytime soon. Maybe I should have hit up that pharmacy as well...

"How much longer do you think it will be?" Lindsey asked, obviously in pain.

"I think we're pretty close," Ali shrugged. 

An ambulance whizzed past us with its sirens blaring and tires squealing. I heard a scream from behind us, we all wheeled around to see what happened. A woman had been tackled by someone who looked like they were infected with whatever that crazy woman from the hotel had. The guy fell on top of her, tearing into her, causing blood to spray everywhere and pool around her body. Her muffled screams soon stopped and new screams of people who witnessed the attack erupted. People scrambled to get away and we were forced to run before we got trampled by the panicked group now heading in our direction.

"Holy shit!" Lindsey yelled as she tried to keep up with us despite her injured leg.

Ali sent me a look that could only be summed up as 'what the hell did we just witness?' For that, I had no answer. I grabbed her hand in the hope that it stopped the panicked crowd splitting us up and losing each other as we continued to run towards the hospital. 

 

huffing with exertion we had finally made it to the hospital, thanks to the group on our heels forcing us to run the full way. My side was burning anew from the heavy breaths that were wracking my lungs and chest. Lindsey seemed to have it worse, she was now wincing with every step she took and her skin had taken on an ashen colour making her look sickly. Maybe the bite was causing her to catch whatever those crazy sick people had. I unconsciously touched my side and looked at my reflection in the glass windows surrounding the hospital. I didn't have the sickly appearance, so maybe a scratch didn't have the same effect as a bite did. Only one way to find out.

 

"Shit, we're going to be here for hours," I grumbled as we walked into the crowded lobby.

We had to squeeze our way through the masses just to get to the front desk line. People were yelling and crying all over the place. Some people had bloody rags pressed to their wounds which were now dripping all over the floor. This had to be the most unsanitary hospital I have ever seen. Others were trying to calm down the hysteric patients, not having much luck. Finally, we had gotten through the line and had our turn at the desk.  

"Number of people and emergency?" the frazzled receptionist stated.

"Ah, two injured, one with a bite and one with deep scratches," I said adding extra pain to my voice hoping she wouldn't just send us away.

"We are taking only emergencies at the moment due to high volume of incidents," she pleaded.

"We were bit and scratched by someone who has that sickness or whatever it is," I reasoned.

Her eyes flashed to mine, she knew something we didn't.

"fourth floor, take a left at the elevators."

 

I was about to ask her why, when she yelled next and we were effectively dealt with. I motioned for the stairs and Lindsey grimaced, but it looked like the two elevators would be busy for a while judging by the crowd waiting to get on to them. The door to the stairs was held open due to the steady stream of people going up and down not wanting to wait for the elevator. 

"It's only the fourth floor." I shrugged when Lindsey said she wouldn't be able to take them.

 

My attitude towards stairs sure had changed in the last twenty-four hours not that taking the stairs appealed to me, just that they would be quicker. We squeezed into the cramped flow of traffic that was heading up the stairs, with Lindsey being prodded on by the people behind her. Now came the tricky part of being able to stop long enough to get through the door labelled fourth floor. I managed to open it enough so that I could get through, much to the dismay of the very vocal people behind us.

 

Unfortunately, this floor was just as crowded as the downstairs and even more alarming was the fact that some doctors were coming in and out of certain rooms in bulky Bio-Hazard suits. Every seat was taken up with sickly looking people and pretty much all the walls were lined with people just waiting to be treated. Going past the elevators we found yet another desk to approach and told them what happened, giving them our papers.

"Take a seat and we will call you when it's your turn," The nurse said from behind her desk.

"So let's see if there was any space by the water fountains," I said leading Ali and Lindsey away.

 

Once we found enough space to claim as our own, Lindsey plunked down looking worse than ever. It seemed like she wasn't able to catch her breath, even though she had more than enough time to while standing in line at the desk. Ali sat down beside her and I gingery sat on the other side of Ali. We sat there for a good hour watching person by person being called, new people taking their vacated chairs and spots.

What I didn't notice until just now, was the fact that we never saw them leave back through the lobby area. _Was there another way off this floor?_   The bio-hazard men were mainly sticking to the rooms at the end of the hall, which only the worse looking patients were being ushered to. It all seemed very suspicious, made more so by the fact that the staff refused to answer anyone's questions. Ali could sense my concern as she placed her hand gently on my knee, and held my gaze. "Ash, if I ever promise you anything let it be this, you will be ok, I promise you. I'm not about to let anything happen to my favourite stranger" she half joked

"Guys, I think it's getting worse," Lindsey said catching us off guard.

She started to cough violently, blood started to drip from her mouth staining her teeth with red blood. Holy shit! Ali and I jumped up as she started to go into convulsions.

"Nurse!" Ali screamed in panic.

I just stood there, not having a clue what to do.

 

 

 


	4. Chaos

*Ashlyn's Pov*

A few men in Bio-Hazard suits, rushed over with a gurney. They had to squish through the sea of people just to get to Lindsey. It took two doctors to restrain Lindsey enough to get her onto it. I'm no doctor, but I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to try to move someone while they were having a seizure. 

"Hey!" I yelled to the suited men. "Should you be moving her right now?"

They studiously ignored me as they strapped Lindsey down and shoved us out of the way, as they carted her off to one of the rooms down the hall.

"Hey!" I yelled again, but it was to no avail.

 

Lindsey was still thrashing around when they opened up one of the doors and tried to push the gurney in but before they could, another patient rushed out of the room snarling and trying to claw at them. From the surprise, the doctors lost their grip on Lindsey and she was pushed up against the wall as the doctors tried to subdue the crazy patient. The deranged man had waxy, grey skin and his eyes were beyond blood shot; almost as if all the vessels in his eyes had burst. His mouth was stained with red, as were his clothes and his hands.

One of the doctors howled in pain as the man's teeth sunk into the arm the doctor was holding him with. I guess those suits weren't teeth proof. The suited man tried to pry the lunatic off, but he was on there good and didn't look like he was going to let go anytime soon. The other doctor stood still for what seemed like forever and then took off running in the opposite direction. This is when all hell started to break loose.

All the patients around us started to panic and screams soon erupted all over the waiting area. 

"Ashlyn!" Ali yelled, as she was shoved out of the way as people started to run all over the place. 

I tried hard to keep track of her, but was soon lost in the crowd of scared people trying to get off this floor. I found myself being ushered against my will towards the hallway, where the deranged patient was now fully on top of the suited doctor; his blood was running down the sides of his suit and pooling around him.

 

The crazed man on top of him suddenly snapped his head up, chewing ad snarling at the same time. Red stained pieces of the doctor's suit were sprayed all over the place. The sick man scrambled up and lunged at the group of us being pushed towards him. I felt panic grip us. People screamed, arms and limbs where bumping into me from all directions; someone was shoved callously right at the approaching crazy patient.

"Help!" the woman screamed. For whatever reason, that I could not explain, I reached out and tried to pull her back, but it was too late. The man latched onto her like he had the doctor and soon her screams turned into whimpers then they stopped all together; as the blood poured from the bite wound on her neck. The doctor; who had been viciously attacked, started to sit up slowly and I knew that meant it was time to run. Putting the terrified face of that woman out of my mind, I tried to hove my way back through the crowd towards the stairs. I found that if I stuck close to the wall, I was better able to move through the crowd.

 

I frantically looked around for Ali, but I couldn't see her over the mass amounts of people. Her dark hair was camouflaged among the sea of heads.

"Ali!" I yelled as hard as I could over the chaos, but if she heard me I got no reply.

I had to make my choice fast. Did I keep trying to search for Ali in here and possibly get trampled to death or try to get out and hope Ali did the same?Soon that choice was made for me, as the doctor in the suit joined in the fray attacking people. His teeth were rendered useless, as the face shield protected the unfortunate individual he had grabbed, It looked like the woman who had her neck bitten was starting to convulse on the ground as the virus racked her body up.

 

I took one last look back and wished I hadn't. One of the patients in the waiting room must have had a gun on their person, this was America after all, and shot the crazed sick man. The loud sound from the gun caused everyone to duck and scream anew. The crazed man was shot point blank in the shoulder, causing him to whip around from the impact sending a spray of blood all over the wall behind him. I watched in mute horror, as the sick man pulled himself back to his feet, his left arm barely hanging on, since the bullet had punched a wide hole in his shoulder. Still snarling he walked unsteadily towards the shocked man with the raised gun. the brief thought of why no police where here yet crossed my mind. 

 

The sick man lunged at the man holding the revolver and soon a barrage of bullets impaled him. Not until one of the bullets hit the sick man in between the eyes, did he stop his assault. The body slumped to the ground, finally un-moving, and didn't get back up. The man lowered his emptied gun, the barrel smoking at his side. Panic rained all around and I stood frozen, too shocked to move. I had seen a lot since I woke up this morning, but somehow seeing a man shoot another in the face, was enough to hit home. Something was happening, something big. I knew right in that moment life would never be the same.

 

"Ashlyn!" I heard my name screamed over the noise but I didn't move until fingers wrapped around my wrist. I barely registered the tugging at my arm

"Ash we have to leave!" Ali said panicked, trying to pull me along.

 

I stumbled behind her, her dragging me by the arm, still in a daze from everything. My mind was trying to play catch up to all that I had witnessed. The stairs were even worse going down, now that everyone was trying to flee the fourth floor. A man was shoved down taking a bunch of people with him, but no one stopped to help. instead, they just tried to jump over the slump of bodies in their attempt to get down.

Ali kept giving brief glances back to see that I was still following. My legs managed to work, even though I was not really there it seemed. I was turning into one of those people who froze up and shut down in emergencies. They were always the first to go...At that thought my mind tried to snap itself back into place, self-preservation taking over.

 

We managed to overtake the stairs as a mass group and burst out onto the first floor. People jumped up from their chairs and dodged out of the way as we all poured out into the lobby in an attempt to vacate the hospital. A shrill alarm went off, the emergency lights blinking. 

 _Why did we even come here in the first place?_ If this infection was spreading, then the hospital is where the sick would amass. I wish I had clued into this earlier and we hadn't bothered coming here. But, then we would have been stuck with Lindsey when the virus took her over and did whatever it did to her. Guilt wasn't something I was accustomed to feeling, but I felt a twinge of it at the moment, knowing we left Lindsey behind. I tried to justify it to myself by saying she was doomed either way; which was unfortunately true.  _Was I next?_ I wasn't bit, just scratched. I had lasted this long when it looked like it over took all the others quickly by comparison. 

 

Soon the people in the lobby started to join our mass group and ran for the exit as well. It must have been a sight to see; hundreds of people pouring out of the hospital doors, running back onto the roads and sidewalks. Car tires were squealing as people were pushed out into the flow of traffic. Ali had managed to steer us back towards the direction of the hotel and we took off in a sprint, no longer slowed down by Lindsey. We finally stopped running to catch our breath, the heaves aggravating my side. 

"Ali," I huffed and pointed to the corner store. 

"It's going to be just as bad in there."

"I know but i'm going to need some antiseptic or something for my wounds."

 

Ali gave the store a sceptical glance, but nodded. We jogged over to the entrance, the automatic doors opening for us. The inside was pandemonium; people were grabbing everything they could. I made a dash for the first aid section, scanning the shelves around the people looking for anything I could use. I managed to grab a couple bottles of spray antiseptic and gauze. I hadn't realised just how hungry I was until I saw the hanging strip of beef jerky packages, so I grabbed a couple of those as well. And a bottle of vitamins just to be o the safe side. 

 

I jumped in the back of the long line, with Ali joining me with her arms full of stuff. We handed the cashier some money when we got up to the till, not even bothering with our change as we ran out of the congested building. I stuffed my haul into my pack as we continued back towards the hotel.

"What do we do?" Ali asked quietly after we had been walking briskly in silence for a few minutes.

"I have no idea," I shrugged. "Not something we can prepare for, you know? We should stick together though, we will be stronger as a pair"

"I need to get back home, to Florida" I said, thinking of my family

"We would basically have to cross the entire US to get you home!" Ali sighed feeling useless. "With no planes, trains and unless we steal a car, that's out of the question Ash, i'm sorry."

 

We fall back into a silent trot the rest of the journey back to the hotel. The streets hadn't improved at all; an ambulance had crashed into the front of one of the stores along the street, its siren still going off. One guy was running down the street yelling about zombies and that was probably the sanest thing I had seen all day.

 

The hotel lobby was empty, but we sprinted to the elevator anyways. Our hallway was still deserted except for the mess, luckily no sick people. Once we stepped into the quiet room, I finally noticed the ringing in my ears. I sat down and took a bite of my beef jerky just as my stomach growled. I offered some to Ali, who in return gave me a bottle of water. We sat there eating and contemplating.

"Do you think you're going to catch it?" Ali asked me with a concern in her eyes. 

"Have you forgotten what your first promise was already? I'm going to be ok, remember. I don't feel sick or anything."

Ali eyed me more carefully, nodding when she convinced herself that I wasn't going to turn into one of those things and try and attack her. 

 

We sat for hours just flipping through the channels for any useful information, but all we could gather was that the main transportation had seized. And that emergency centres were being set up in the soccer stadium and nearby schools.

"Should we try for one of the areas tomorrow?" Ali asked, pointing to the on screen picture of the soccer stadium.

 

It sounded all well and good, but having that many people crammed into an area like that would probably have the same result as the hospital. _but what other choice did we have?_

I gathered up the sheets and pillows on my bed and carried them off to the bathroom.

"what are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm going to sleep in the bath just in case I do get sick or whatever it is." I said dropping the sheets into the dry bath. "I can lock the door so I won't be able to attack you or anything, we can't risk it. It's not worth it. I won't be responsible for causing you harm Ali."

Ali stared at me with fear and sadness in her eyes. She gulped and nodded as she gave me a hug. we held each other tightly for a moment, in total silence until she whispered in my ear "You'll be ok, remember. I can't lose you, you could be all I have left. please be ok Ash" with that, she left the bathroom. leaving me to lock the door behind her. I didn't feel sick, but who knows how this virus works. I changed out of my bandages and sprayed on some of the antiseptic, which felt akin to adding acid to the wounds.

 

 _Was now the time my brief life was supposed to flash before my eyes in a moment of self-recollection?_ If so, I really hope it was the good highlight reel, not the one that included me chasing my shoe down the hallway steps, during the break between classes in grade ten or the time I kicked a rock that turned out not to be a rock, but a very upset raccoon.

 

From behind the door Ali said,

"what do I do if I need to pee?"

With a small grin I lowered myself into the makeshift bed, my thoughts returning to the present.

"Should have thought of that before, you might want to keep that water bottle nearby princess" I joked 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if these chapters are too long, they feel long when i'm writing them but i never know when to stop! If you feel they should be made into smaller chapters please let me know, all other feedback is welcome as always!


	5. Safety?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Ashlyn wake up? and if she does has her scratch caused her to catch the dreaded virus?

*Ashlyn's Pov*

 

The first thing I registered was that it felt like my whole body was stiff and my limbs just didn't want to cooperate. Images from the previous day roared through my head, forcing me from my dreamless sleep. My eyes flashed open and I tried to move but realised I was confined in a small, hard area. Right, I was in the bathtub. I sat up only to smack my head on the faucet.  _Why the hell did I sleep with my head on this side?_

 

Rubbing the sore spot on my head, I hopped over the tub wall, my limbs groaning as I was finally able to stretch out. I used to sleep in the bath when I was sick as a kid, but I didn't remember it being so uncomfortable. I lifted up my shirt to inspect my wounds and surprisingly they didn't look all filled with puss as I thought they would. Whatever was in the antiseptic spray actually worked; for once the stinging was worth it. So I applied some more, wincing at the burning sensation and taped the gauze over the wound, which felt much better than the mass amounts of band-aids I was previously using.

"You still alive in there?" Ali asked hesitantly as she tapped the door.

I was debating making a groaning noise in lieu of answering, but even I wasn't that cruel.

"Still kicking, just my side is killing me," I said opening the door.

 

Ali gave me a brief hug which added unwanted pressure to my pained side, so I politely shoved her off. Relief was plastered over her face but her red rimmed eyes hinted that she had been crying.

"I'm glad," she smiled

"That makes two of us."

"So does this mean you're immune?" Ali asked following me back out to the beds.

"You're asking the wrong person," I shrugged. "Maybe it only gets passed on through saliva."

 

I turned on the news to see if anything had changed and after watching for a bit I realised that they were showing the exact same newscast that was on yesterday. The same reporter, the same clothes, the exact same words and expressions; could they even do that?

"So are we heading for that emergency shelter?" Ali asked

"You think we should?" I asked turning from the television screen. 

 

Ali nodded and I agreed. We didn't stand much chance just waiting in the hotel room. The school would have supplies, guards and maybe even transportation out of the city. We jumped into motion stuffing our bags with all that we had packed. I was glad I had bought my huge camping backpack even though I had never camped a day in my life. It just had all the storage I needed. And it came free with a compass, which is still wrapped in its original packaging in one of the various pockets. I hefted it onto my back to test the weight and I almost toppled over from the added pounds. 

 

"Do you think we can bring our suitcases?" I asked, looking longingly at my stuff that I really didn't want to leave behind. 

"Sure why not?" Ali shrugged, "But you're wheeling your own damn suitcase."

"Oh come on, I'm injured," I whined and Ali just shook her head. 

We packed in silence a little more before Ali spoke up.

"I feel guilty that we left Lindsey behind yesterday," she said quickly.

"I admit I feel a tad bit guilty too but what could have we done differently?" I reasoned

"I don't know, something."

"Like what? run over to her gurney and have her attack us as we unstrapped her?"

She flinched at my words but I was speaking the truth. Lindsey had gotten whatever virus this was and would have eventually turned on us. None of the sick people we had encountered had seemed in their right mind; in fact they didn't seem to understand anything at all. Of all the infected people we saw yesterday, none of them spoke so much as a single word. Just snarls. And even a swift kick to the head didn't seem to slow them down, we needed some sort of protection, like a gun, not that either of us knew how to shoot one. 

 

"What do we do if we run into more of the sick people?" Ali asked as she tied her shoes. I noticed she was fumbling with the laces, her knuckles white

"Go Babe Ruth on their asses?." I joked to try and ease the tension and Ali grinned slightly despite the craziness of the situation.

"And where would we get the bats pray tell?"

"Wal-Mart, sporting goods stores, pawn stores, take your pick," I guessed running through all the likely suspects.

"We could add nails to them too."

"What badass weapon wouldn't be complete without nails?"

 

I guess making light of the situation was a coping mechanism of sorts, because it helped to take our mind off of the horrors of the past day, if only by a little bit. A gun would be the best choice but who would sell a gun to an unregistered girl who has never held a gun before? I played shooter games on the Xbox, but that was all the 'experience' I was limited to.

The mention of homemade explosives was tossed in there, although, my knowledge of homemade explosives was limited to putting a rag in a bottle of booze and setting it on fire; not that I had ever attempted that before. Knowing my luck, I'd set myself on fire instead. 

We joked about the different methods of protection, but it felt forced. We were purposely avoiding what we wanted to say.

"Ash, aren't you freaked out?"Ali scrutinised me the way one would for a particularly hard version of the daily crossword.

"No, i'm perfectly at ease. I was thinking of heading out for a McDonald's actually, want anything?" I said

"You don't have to be such a sarcastic ass all the time," Ali joked shaking her head.

I turned to look at her. "What do you want me to say Ali? That i'm freaked out because we're trapped here, a whole country away from home?" My unease was starting to leak into my voice, "Or worried that I seem to be considering building an arsenal like the Unabomber? Or that we seem to be living a high-definition version of Dawn of The Dead? I'm scared Ali, I'm terrified,  but i'm trying to keep it together for myself and for you. We have to be strong, not just for ourselves, for each other."

I sighed and plopped down on the bed, finally allowing my mind to process the last 24 hours. We were living the start of every zombie movie ever and I chuckled at the thought. The laughter spread through me like an electrical current and soon I was clutching my sides as the peals of laughter just wouldn't stop. Ali gave me the look that meant she was contemplating my sanity.

"You always laugh at the worst times," she muttered, shaking her head while gently pushing me on the shoulder. 

 

I wiped the unwanted tears from my eyes and I felt marginally better; like I had just undergone a twenty second therapy session. But the hysterics came at a price. My side was starting to burn again from the sudden movement and I held my breath; my usual reaction to pain. Once the throbbing started to subside, I turned back to our task at hand. 

"So, just how screwed are we?" Ali asked, her voice uneven.

"Truthfully, I don't know." I looked at her and she quickly looked away. 

But not before I spotted a tear slipping down her cheek. I wasn't one for comforting, but I couldn't stand to see Ali like this. I scooted closer and gave her a tight hug, we stayed like that for what seemed like forever. "I know we don't know each other well, but we can do this Ali. you know how your promise to me was that I was going to be ok? well, my promise to you is that no matter what shit we get into, you will always have me. I won't ever leave you by yourself. We face whatever is coming together, like a team. If we get split up, I wont stop until I find you again. As of right this moment, your fate will be mine. If a crazy woman attacks and kills you, then the crazy woman will kill me while I try to save you" I pull back, out of her hold and wipe the stray tears off her face with my thumbs. 

"You promise? you promise you wont abandon me? even if we find a group of big strong men that can protect you but they don't want me weakening the group?" Ali said.

"Ali, you're not weak! you're one of the strongest people I've ever met. I'd be dead already if it wasn't for you, do you even realise that? If you chose to ignore the crazy blonde chick banging on your hotel room door, i'd have been a woman's lunch. My loyalties are with you throughout all of this, I owe you my life."

 

With our bags packed, we took one last look around the room to see if we missed anything. It felt like we had taken everything that wasn't bolted down. I peeked out the door and motioned for Ali to follow when I didn't see anyone in the hallway. Well, at least I wasn't going to miss this place. I had to manoeuvre my suitcase through the mess that was covering the hallway, so that it wouldn't tip over. I could hear noises coming from behind a couple of the doors, someone even rammed up against one from the other side it sounded like. I looked at Ali and she gave me a frightened look in return. 

"Eh, hello?"  I asked as I approached the door labelled 315.

Instead of an answer, snarling erupted from the other side and whoever was in there started to hammer and bang against the door.

"Holy shit, let's move," Ali said grabbing my elbow and trying to steer towards the elevator.

 

 _Why couldn't the person open the door?_ Did the virus wreck the brain so much that they couldn't even figure out how to use the door handle They could still move, so motor functioning wasn't the issue. It was like once infected, the person turned into some mindless, violent predator only focused on attacking others. I was really trying to stay clear of the word zombie because it seemed so ridiculous, but it looked like Hollywood got it right for once.

 

We rode down the elevator for the last time and started on our long walk to the school. The streets were not as busy as the previous day, but the destruction and chaos still remained. Stores were broken into and windows were smashed. Cars were all over the place, some just sitting in the middle of the road with their doors wide open, but no one inside. It truly looked like some sort of mass evacuation had gone on, because no one would just leave their car sitting in the middle of the road abandoned. I had a rusty 2001 Honda Civic back home and although it was a hunk of junk, I still wouldn't have just left it.

 

People were still scurrying around; smoke was rising from some of the buildings on the east side of the city. Luckily the school we were trying to get to was South and a good distance away from the billowing smoke. Downside to that; it was a fair walking distance from where we stood.

"We could not look more like tourists right now," Ali sighed as she rolled her suitcase behind her.

I chuckled, "Might as well have  _please rob me sign plastered on our foreheads."_

 

Our joking cut off abruptly as we spotted a body lying in the street, next to one of the abandoned vehicles. There was a blood stain all around the unmoving corpse and I could smell the rotting stench from the sidewalk.  _Why has the body not been removed?_ A flash of colour, made me turn my head to witness a crazed man chasing a woman around the corner. At that, we started to walk faster. 

 

After walking for a few minutes, we noticed a small crowd of people about ten, all standing around. When we got closer, I saw the bus stop sign sticking up over head the crowd.

"Aren't the busses cancelled?" I stopped and asked one of the people waiting. 

"There was an emergency broadcast saying that the busses are in use only for transportation to the shelters," One woman answered, looking around nervously.

 

Ali and I shared a look and we parked ourselves and our bags in the queue to wait for the bus. All the people in line seemed to be in a daze, one child was quietly sobbing into her mother's jacket, and others were whipping their heads around for any signs of sick people. Just as I was starting to get antsy, the bus roared around the corner and everyone started to grab their bags in anticipation. Through the windows I could tell the bus was only about half-full, which was good since there were now twelve of us.

"Ah, I don't have any change," I said to the driver.

"We're not charging anyone, since this is to go to the emergency shelters," He replied.

 

There was no room to sit, so Ali and I had to stand, which was still better than walking all that way through the chaos. The bus driver announced that we would be going to the high school located on the south side of the city and that if we wished to go to the Arena, then we would have to wait until the next batch of people were picked up.

"God I hate busses," Ali muttered as she looked around.

The bus took a sharp corner and I was thrown into the person behind me, my elbow connecting with their nose.

"Oh god! I'm so sorry!" I quickly apologised as I scrambled to get of the person's lap.

I got a nasally response, "It's alright, at least your giant suitcase didn't come with you."

 

The person I happened to smash into turned out to be a woman, although she could easily be mistaken as a child with how small she was. Short dark hair and a grin plastered on her face, despite the fact she was now holding her injured nose. She wore one of those contagious smiles, the kind that just made you want to smile with her. I found myself grinning back in return as I sat back up. 

"Yeah, it probably would have done even more damage," I said apologetically.

"What do you have in there?" She asked, eyeing the suitcase warily. 

"Oh you know, everything."

"I'm Meghan by the way, Meghan Klingenberg." She flashed her white teeth as she smiled. She scrunched her nose making sure it wasn't seriously injured. At least I hadn't made it bleed.

"Ashlyn Harris, and this is Ali Krieger" I said pointing my thumb to the beautiful brunette beside me.

"Which shelter are you girls heading to?"

"The high school," Ali answered. 

"Me too" Meghan said, "Seems like a better choice than the Arena."

"So, you're here by yourself?" I question, looking around. Her face faltered a little. 

"Well, yeah. I was separated from my group last night and haven't been able to meet up with them," she said but her answer sounded off to me somehow. I couldn't put my finger on why.

"They probably headed to one of the emergency shelters too," Ali beamed at her and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. 

 

The more we talked to Meghan the more I faltered in between believing her and feeling that something was off with her. I suppose I could have just as easily been separated from Ali at the hospital and maybe her tale of losing her friends was the truth.

"So, Zombies huh?" Meghan offered when our conversation died. 

"That sounds so ridiculous," I sighed.

"How else can you explain it?" Meghan countered.

"Maybe mad cow disease has made a comeback and this time got passed on to humans?" I mused

"Maybe, but I saw a girl bite and chew on another girl yesterday. You saying mad cow turns people into cannibals?" Meghan asked.

"Hey, I never said I was a scientist," I put my hands in the air in mock surrender. "It's just that the word zombie, seems absurd."

"They're only Zombies if they're dead," Ali pointed out. "Are the sick people dead?" None of us had an answer to that.

 

I thought back to when the doctor and woman bled out in the hospital, then stared to move around again once I thought they were dead. So far it seemed George Romero had it right, except for the sequels to the Dawn of The Dead; now those were just terrible.

 

The bus came to a halt outside the school, which was surrounded by police cars and emergency response teams. As we filed out of the bus, we were directed into the building by people in flashy reflective vests. I felt Ali grab onto the back of my sweater so that she didn't get yanked away and Meghan followed close behind.

"How many?" A man at the entrance asked holding up his clipboard.

"two" I answered.

"Make that three," Ali corrected. 

Great, another stray.

"Anyone in your party sick?" He asked with a serious, no-nonsense face.

"Nope," I answered calmly even though I was sweating on the inside. 

_What if they found out I was scratched? Would I even get a chance to explain that I didn't catch the sickness?_

"Go on through the main doors," the man said ticking off something on his clipboard.

 

I followed the parade of people in front of me, leading to the main doors. Before we got through the doors there was a bunch of shouting back at the man with the clipboard.

"What do you mean he can't come in?" A hysterical woman was yelling. Motioning to a man.

Standing beside her was a handsome man, mid 20's looking. His face was ashen and grey, his eyes almost sunken in. Rattling coughs were shaking his body.

"Sorry, no one who is sick is allowed into the shelter. It's to protect the others inside and prevent further spread of the virus," the man tried to reason. 

 

Other emergency workers were called over and basically ushered the distraught woman and her sick partner off the premise. I felt bad for them, but at the same time I was relieved they weren't going to be sharing any enclosed space with us. Like me, I'm sure there were a few people who were hiding wounds made by the infected people and weren't owning up to it. I knew I was ok, but would the others be? No one looked sick at the moment, but I knew that it could all change in a heartbeat. All it took was one to start attacking others and spreading it around.

Great, suddenly I didn't feel so sure about going into the school now

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I feel like this chapter was pretty long and boring, trying to keep it interesting without moving along too quickly. I have a rough idea where the story is going, but nothing set in stone yet. feel free to comment things you'd like to see added, or what you think might happen. I may pick up a couple of ideas. As always, both positive and negative feedback is welcome


	6. Back to School

*Ashlyn's Pov*

We had found our way over to the corner with some cots and claimed it as our own. As I slid my backpack off my shoulders, much to my back's relief, I looked around the area we were ushered to. The main gym had been full so they started putting people in this multipurpose/lunch room, which is where we were currently located. The cheap florescent lights made everything appear clinical and I wondered how long they expected us to stay in here for.

All the family's and groups of people mainly stayed to their own area, no one was in the mood to socialise. It was extremely loud in the cramped area with kids screaming all over the place. It reminded me of going to the mall on a weekend; I hated malls for that same reason.

"We should have just stayed at the hotel," I said as a screaming heard of kids ran by, "At least it would have been quiet."

"Yeah but at least we have supplies and protection here," Ali pointed out.

Which was true but being among so many people was making me nervous. I was never a people person and being around this many people, in this smallish space was not my forte; especially in light of the situation. I found myself eyeing up people, looking for any telltale signs that they were sick

"You keep looking at people like that, you're going to freak them out." Meghan said

"So? I don't want to be attacked in the middle of the night," I said, "Not that I will be able to sleep in this anyways."

"I'd be more worried about getting robbed," Meghan added.

"Thanks, now I really won't sleep," I muttered and Meghan chuckled.

 

A table was set up that had an emergency worker handing out wrapped sandwiches to people, so Meghan and I went to get in line before the crowd of people amassed over to it while Ali stayed behind to watch our stuff and claim our territory.

We grabbed our sandwiches, taking an extra one for Ali and headed back to our corner. I took a bite and chewed, grateful for some real food. We sat in silence eating, just looking around. Cots and people were everywhere; the space was extremely loud as a result. I hoped that maybe we could sneak off into a classroom to escape the noise that would no doubt carry through the night. Why did I always seem to make these types of decisions and end up regretting them?

 

I finally noticed all the police presence stationed all over the large room. None of them seemed to be helping, just looking around with a stern eye with their hands on their holstered guns. I found that odd, it was almost like they were just waiting for someone to turn. One uniformed officer went around the others saying something to all of them and then pulled the megaphone he had in his hand to his mouth.

"Quiet down please everyone. In a few minutes we are going to play a broadcast from the national news due to the numerous requests for information," His amplified voice boomed over the room causing the noise level to fall considerably.

"Do you think it will be real?" Ali asked.

"What do you mean?" I say.

"Well if they're just playing it over the intercom it could come from anyone," Ali pointed out as if it was obvious, "You know to placate people and not cause panic."

"For once you could be right," I said and Ali punched me on the shoulder.

 

I rubbed my sore arm as Meghan chuckled at us. My sarcasm aside, Ali could be right. Isn't that what the government did in emergencies? Lie to the public and justify it by saying they did so not to cause panic? A few minutes later, the intercom cracked to life, a feminine but stern voice carrying through the now muted noise;

_The president has declared a state of emergency, we advise all citizens to stay in their homes and avoid all contact with the infected individuals. Emergency teams have been sent to the major cities to deal with the situation and will span out to rural places soon. If an infected is spotted please call the local law enforcement and do not engage the infected, we repeat, do not engage the infected. If an emergency shelter has been put up in your community, you should get there immediately. Again, avoid all contact with the infected and..._

The recording cut out and all that was left playing was the hiss of the radio frequency. Then suddenly the lights went out and people started screaming and running around in the gym.

"People! please do not panic we have everything under control. We are working on getting the emergency generator running right now," Announced a policeman from his megaphone. All three of us jumped up as people started to move all around us. I was knocked from behind as a man shoved his way through the people but I managed to catch myself before I hit the ground.

"Ashlyn! you alright?" Ali asked from right beside me.

"Yeah some panicking jackass just bumped into me," I grumbled as I rubbed my still sore shoulder.

 

Man I don't think I could afford anymore injuries with the hospitals being useless. My eyes were swamped with light as the emergency lights came back on, which happened to be right above where we were situated. People started to calm down or at least stop running around, screaming like idiots.

 

"Well power outages aren't a good sign," Meghan muttered and I wasn't even sure she was talking to us.

"None of this is a good sign," I rolled my eyes.

 

The broadcast wasn't what I had expected. What did a state of emergency even mean? The planes and trains had already been down the day before so what else happened?

"So now we're to call the sick people infected?" Ali asked.

"What else would you call them?" Meghan replied, "Zombies?"

"I don't think any self-respecting newscast would use that word," I said

"Fair enough," Meghan shrugged.

"They are zombies though," a voice said from behind us.

I turned around to see a woman, who looked maybe a couple of years younger than myself and Ali standing listening to our conversation. She was standing there in her torn jeans, a baggy Nike T-shirt and she was wearing a burgundy snapback with her brown hair down slightly wavy under it. She had a chilled vibe about her, like this whole thing hadn't phased her.

"And how would you know that" I asked, arching an eyebrow and the random woman.

"Cause, I've seen every zombie movie ever made." Her accent caught me off guard, she didn't have the southern sounding accent i'd expected since we were in New Orleans, maybe like myself and Ali, she was just visiting. 

She was about to add something else when another voice yelled out, "Tobin!" She looked around for a second, then another woman, around the same age burst through the crowd to her. 

"Tobin what the heck! where did you go, I've been looking for you since the lights went out" her accent sounded different as well, like she was from California or something.

 

They definitely seemed like they were either related, or very close friend. The other woman also had long, dark hair. She was stunning, effortlessly stunning. she was dressed like she had just come from Soccer practice, and judging by her athletic looking body, she probably had. 

"Oh, sorry Alex the place was chaos I needed to find space and ended up all the way over here" Tobin said, the way she said it sounded like she wasn't sorry at all. just stating where she went.

It made me and Ali chuckle, I've never seen someone look so unfazed while in such a horrific situation. 

"Sorry, I hope this one wasn't pestering you girls," Alex grinned flashing her straight white teeth, "I'm Alex Morgan by the way, and this idiot is Tobin Heath,"

"Idiot!" Tobin said dramatically, "Takes one to know one Alex,"

"Oh, she was just telling us about how the infected are in fact zombies" I said. 

Alex rolled her eyes at Tobin, "How many times Tobs, stop freaking people out about zombies!"

I inwardly grinned at how they were speaking to one another, you could tell just how close they were. 

"What are your names?" Tobin asked.

"I'm Ashlyn, this is my zombie apocalypse bestie Ali, and that little one there is Meghan" I laughed while introducing everyone. 

"Where you all from?" Tobin prodded.

"Uhm, well i'm from satellite beach, Florida" I say only answering for myself as I realise I've never actually asked where Meghan and Ali are from

Ali laughed, sensing my awkwardness about not knowing where she's from. "I'm from Virginia Ash, thanks for asking. not sure where Meghan is from we only met earlier today, on our way here actually."

"Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" Meghan stated simply. 

"If you're from different parts of the states why are you all in New Orleans?" Tobin asked bluntly 

"Tobin," Alex sighed

Ali chuckled and answered for us, "I came for a long weekend, needed a break" myself and Meghan nodded in agreement. 

 

The full lights came back on and I could hear the sigh of relief from the people in the lunch room.

"Can we stay by you guys? you seem the most chilled in here" Tobin asked, looking at me expectantly.

"Sure, pull up a cot," Ali smiled, and I narrowed my eyes.

 

I had a nagging suspicion Ali was the type to bring home stray dogs as a kid. Tobin fist pumped in response which gained a laugh from everyone in the group, then she went off to get her things with Alex in tow. I gave Ali a look.

"Shut up" She said. 

"I didn't say anything," I grinned. 

"I know you well enough already, you don't have to speak," Ali said sending me a wink while sitting down in her cot.

"Touche." I lugged my suitcase over to the side so they would have room for their cots.

 

A few minutes later, Tobin came over with her rather large backpack. Alex was a few steps behind her with the cots folded under her arms. Tobin took the cot beside me, putting her backpack down and Alex set hers up across from Meghan. For the next hour we were barraged with questions from Tobin. Was it possible for someone to be excited about a possible zombie apocalypse? Or is Tobin really just this laid back that she doesn't care. 

"Sorry about her, she's talkative. I don't think she understands quite how serious this all is" Alex laughed apologetically to me when Ali became the recipient of the next round of questions. 

"No problem, kind of takes your mind off everything," I shrugged.

"So, is Tobin your sister?" I asked.

Alex chuckled "No, we've been best friends for years, basically inseparable, like you three, we came here for a short trip, mini break away from the stresses of life, and end up stuck in the most stressful situation possible and we can't make it back home to our families."

"Yeah, Ali and I are stuck too. Our plane was cancelled and trains aren't an option now either," I frowned as my words sunk in.

We really were stuck unless we could commandeer a car along the way and drive back home, but even that wouldn't work as we all lived in different places. We would have to split up and go our own way, and that wasn't an option for me, I had to stick with Ali, i'd promised her that. If that meant trying to make it back to her family, and leaving mine then so be it.

"Well you're welcome to stay with us for the time being," Alex offered.

"I wasn't aware you owned the school," I smirked and Alex rolled her eyes.

"No, I mean we can't stay here forever. My family has a huntin' cabin about three hours west of here. Nobody is using it at the moment."

"Thank you, I really appreciate the offer. How come you didn't just head there in the first place?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Alex ran her fingers through her hair, "Well for one, the school was closer. And I wanted to see just how bad the situation was before I headed out with Tobin."

"Did you get your answer?"

"Unfortunately." she sighed.

 

 

 


	7. Never Did Like School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group discover the school isn't as safe as they hoped

I rolled over for the millionth time tonight as I tried to get comfortable on the cot which was proving impossible.  _what the hell did they make these things from?_ I could hear Tobin snoring away beside me so I gently nudged her leg to get her to stop. She spluttered for a few seconds then rolled over and resumed her snoring which harmonised with the other people snoring all over the room.  _Geez they could start a band._ I sighed knowing I wouldn't get more than a few hours of sleep tonight if I was lucky, being a light sleeper insured this.

"Can't sleep?" Ali whispered from her cot.

I was going to give her a 'You don't say' look, but I realised it would be lost on her in the darkness of the room. 

"What gave it away?" I whispered back sarcastically.

She chuckled and then responded "You know, you can come over here and try to sleep."

I couldn't see her face clearly in the dimmed lights but I knew she was waggling her eyebrows at her statement. _Well I wasn't expecting that comment from Ali_

"Please, these cots don't even hold one person properly," I retorted.

"Fair enough," Ali said.

"How come you're not asleep?" I asked her

"Light sleeper."

"Me too."

"I'm not but you two are keeping me up,"Alex said sleepily from her own cot.

"Sorry," both Ali and I said before resigning to our fate of getting no sleep.

 

It seemed like I had been asleep for only a few minutes, rather than the hours it actually had been, when the shrill and sounds of a screaming woman woke me from my light sleep. I sat up quickly, the change in altitude causing my head to spin. No sooner could I get the sound "Wah?" out of my mouth before Ali started to yell at me.

"Grab your bag, we gotta go!"

 

Everyone was sprinting into action and more screams erupted. The police that were stationed in the lunch room were running around panicked, waving their guns in the air. I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the police training guidelines. I hopped up and pulled my backpack onto my shoulder. I went to grab my rolling suitcase but Ali grabbed my arm.

"We will never get out of here with our suitcases."

I looked longingly at my bright, Zebra stripped suitcase already missing it and its contents, but I know Ali was right. I nodded and looked around to see the others all geared up with their backpacks on and ready to run.

"Whats going on?" Tobin asked, her eyes wide as she surveyed the chaos. 

"I don't know, but we gotta get outta here," Alex said

 

A gun fired somewhere in the school causing people to duck and scream, which seemed to be the knee-jerk reaction to a gun shot.

"Guns are never a good sign," Meghan said and I didn't even have the capacity to roll my eyes at her.

I was too focused on trying to find a path through the madness. 

"We need to get somewhere out in the open, being in a crowd like this makes us an easy target," I said while scanning the three exits out of the room.

"An easy target for what?" Ali asked.

"The infected people, a stray bullet, everything." I say 

"She's right," Alex nodded and I was glad someone else was thinking at the moment.

"How about the open main doors?" Ali asked pointing to the biggest exit?

"Alright, let's go and meet up in the parking lot across the street if we get split up," I said and we started to move towards the exit.

 

I took lead with the others in tow, Alex had her hand wrapped tightly around one of Tobin's. We were pushing our way through the sea of people when they all started to push us back the way we had come. 

"What the hell?" I muttered and then I heard it. 

 

The groaning and snarling that accompanied the infected. People were screaming bloody murder as a group of infected individuals stumbled through the large exit doors, grabbing onto whoever was unfortunately close enough. 

"Infected, go back!" I yelled and we turned around to try and reach the other two door exit that was on the other side of the room.

 

I was now trailing behind the others with Ali leading us out. I looked back to see a bunch of people go down with the infected and the remaining police men were trying to take aim, but were finding it hard with all the people in the way. As one infected lunged at a cop, he fired a couple of rounds into the sick man's chest, but all it did was put the infected on his ass. The infected man slowly got himself up much to the shock of the cop who was gaping at the scene before him. No living person could have taken that many bullets to the chest and still be breathing let alone up and moving around.

Dark blood was trailing down the infected man's shirt, dripping onto the floor as he started for the policeman again; now slowly limping towards the retreating cop. I had a sickening feeling I knew exactly where this was going, but luckily the cop's partner took aim and shot the infected in the back of the head sending a pulpy mess into the air. The body fell straight forward and down from the impact and both policemen just stared at the open corpse as if waiting for it to get back up again. But it remained still, the oily blood pooling out around its head in a morbid halo.

"Come on," I felt Ali's fingers digging into my wrist as she pulled me forward.

 

Tobin had gone all silent, her eyes wide with fear as she clung to Alex's hand. I pulled my arm free from Ali's grasp as I picked up the pace, leaving the grotesque scene behind me. Meghan waved at the entrance indicating it was clear. We all burst into the hallway lined with old lockers, with other people from the lunch room looking to escape. Since we were on the first floor we at least didn't have to worry about stairs, just navigating the narrowed hallways. We followed Ali trusting she knew where she was going, I didn't pay attention to which turns and hallways we used to get to the multipurpose room when we had entered the school, but Ali looked like she knew where she was going. 

We made it to the end of the hallway only to be faced with the choice of left or right and unfortunately neither direction gave a hint as to where a door was located. The corridors were empty of people, there weren't even any rent-a-cops roaming the halls like I had seen them do yesterday. 

"Left!"

"No right!"

We heard screaming from the crowd behind us, not being helpful at all. I looked at Ali and clearly she had no idea which direction to head. 

"Right," Tobin said as she took the lead.

 

Our little group followed her plus a few more of the people behind us while the other half of the group went left. I hope I didn't live to regret this. Further down the corridor I could see blood smeared on the lockers and a few unmoving bodies on the dirty floor. People gasped and Tobin hauled Alex closer to her trying to steer her sight away from the horrifying mess. We took a sharp left and then we could see the light reflecting on the linoleum floors from the entrance doors.

 

As we were about to round the last corner and reach the entrance doors, I heard the snarling and banging before I saw them. A horde of the infected were pounding and clawing at the doors trying to get outside. From the looks of it, these were once people who had sought refuge in here. Some still had on backpacks and bags, while others were wearing their pyjamas. As a group, we stood in our tracks looking at the obstacle that blocked our escape. One of the infected turned, somehow sensing we were there and started towards us. The others soon followed suit and before I could turn to run back the way we came the two cops from the lunch room were shooting off rounds into the approaching infected.

 

The loud gunshots were reverberated off the cement walls and I had to cover my ears to try to block out the sound. The bullets hit a few targets right between the eyes causing the bodies to sink to the ground in a heap. Others tripped over the fallen, struggling to get up-right once again.

"Let's go back, I think I saw an emergency exit along that last hallway," Meghan yelled right beside me and I could barely make out her words from all the noise and ringing in my ears.

I nodded and yanked Ali's arm to get her to follow. Alex was already looking back around the corner we had come from with Tobin. Some of the people had run backwards while others stood transfixed by the scene at the doors. We ran down the corridor that had the two dead people fallen on the floor, except as we passed their slumped bodies, one corpse started to stir.

"Keep moving!" I yelled as Ali stopped in front to stare.

One reached its mangled hand up towards us and Meghan stamped down on it as hard as she could. The infected didn't cry out or anything like a normal person would have at the pain, instead it snarled and tried to reach us with its other hand. We all knew what Meghan was going to do next as she raised her foot high above the infected persons head. Tobin grabbed Alex and pushed her face into her chest so that she didn't have to see this. I almost wished I could have done that as I watched Meghan's foot come down and the infected man's head exploded like a water balloon. Except it made a sickening sound of bone and cartilage snapping as blood and brain matter splattered all over the floor. Ali gagged as Meghan shook off her messy boot and Tobin gulped audibly as Alex clung onto her shirt.

 

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to react; my emotions were almost dulled as a result of the last couple of days. I think I was more disturbed by the way Meghan had taken no time to think about stomping the thing's head and the fact that she seemed more concerned about the mess on her boot than what she just did. I was the first to recover.

"Come on, we can't stop."

 

I took the lead, stepping over the mess trying to avoid getting any of it on my own shoes. The other body remained still and from the condition of the corpse I had a feeling she wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. her legs and arms were badly chewed up, muscle and tendons were exposed through the open wounds making it almost impossible for her to move properly if she ever woke up again.

I saw the word EXIT glowing and sighed in relief that Meghan had been right about the door. I pushed on the latch and a loud siren went off indicating that we had opened the door. I squinted against the morning sun that momentarily blinded me. When I finally could fully open my eyes without the searing light forcing them closed I look upon the scene straight out of a horror movie. 

 

The street was void of moving cars; all the ones on the road had been abandoned, some with doors hanging wide open and blood stained windows. The police and emergency crews that were originally stationed outside the school had either left their post or worse. One of the tall buildings a few blocks away had huge flames shooting out of it. Helicopters were flying overhead and I could hear the sound of rapid gunfire coming from somewhere pretty close. I was no gun expert but I was sure that was the sound of assault rifles not just measly hand guns.

"Where do we go?" Ali asked panicked, running her hand through her hair violently.

 

We all spun around looking for answers. I suddenly remembered mine and Ali's joking banter about weapons and as much as it was meant for taking our minds off everything that it was also true. We needed weapons of some kind and we needed them now. My mind ran through the possible stores that would have anything like that.

"You remember that outdoor sports store we passed the other day?" I asked Ali. 

She nodded, "Weapons?"

"That's what I was thinking."

"So you're suggesting we run further into the city instead of away from it?" Meghan asked sceptically.

"Well how do you suggest we find any weapons?" I asked sharply, the stress starting to get to me. 

"Along the way, out of the city," Meghan said as if it was a sure fire plan.

"There is no guarantee we will find something along the way." Ali reasoned.

"There's no guarantee we will find anything at that store. For all we know it's already been looted and worse we'd be trapped in the thick of it," Meghan said throwing her arms in the air. 

 

As much as she was being a dick about it, Meghan was right. but there were no guarantees for any plan at the moment. 

"She's right, we can't head any further into the city. There will probably be more sick people congregating there," Alex said. "There's a huntin' store further outside the city limits, I doubt it's been touched."

"Ok, well how do you suggest we get there?" I asked calmly.

"I drove here from Cali, road trip. My trucks here." Alex said.

"Where you parked?" Meghan asked Alex.

"The parkade behind the school," She said, her mouth in a grim line.

"We would have to run around to the back and hop the fence to get there," Ali said, looking off into the direction of the parkade.

"We don't have any other choice," Meghan sighed.

"Alright let's go then," Ali said, taking a step towards the back of the school.

"One sec," Alex said, letting go of Tobin's hand.

 

She ran to the car that had been abandoned on the sidewalk and pulled open the driver's side door and hit the latch to pop the trunk. She ran to the back and rummaged through the trunk pulling out a tire iron.

"We need some sort of weapon," She said as she ran back to us, testing the weight of the iron in her grip.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think so far! :)


	8. City Escape

We rounded the back corner of the school, to see the empty back field that was covered in overly green grass. We passed the football field that had been trampled over from constant use. The bleachers casting a shadow over the destroyed field, I could see movement underneath the bleachers and tapped Ali on the shoulder and nodded towards the seats. We widened our berth from the bleachers as we passed, hoping to not catch the attention of whatever was lurking beneath them.

 

The grass silently crunched under our feet but I failed to notice the soda can, since my attention was so focused on the figure. All eyes whipped to me as the aluminium crumpled and I winced at the sound. We could hear and see the shuffling as the figure appeared from under the benches. The man's arm hung limply as he staggered towards us and we started to back up and run. With Ali leading us to the back fence that surrounded the school, we ran like we were being chased, which in a way we were. The infected ambled towards us, it's one good arm raised to grab us but our speed easily outran him in his condition.

 

When we reached the chain-link fence, Tobin hoisted Alex over first then Ali and I went next. I landed on the other side hard, catching myself on the metal links before I fell over. The fence rattled with all the movement and the infected took this as a sign to speed up. Seeing this, Meghan and Tobin quickly hopped over and joined us on the other side. With his blood stained fingers sticking through the chain-links, the infected snapped at us but posed no threat seeing as he wasn't able to climb over. He just continually rattled the fence trying to get to us.

 

"He can't climb over, right?" Ali asked as she stared wide eyed at the infected.

"No," Tobin said, "But let's keep moving."

 

I looked back at the man one last time, as we headed towards the parkade. It was as if he couldn't comprehend how to get to us, he either wasn't in good enough condition to climb over or didn't even think to climb over. Either way, it was of benefit to us. He just stood there rattling the fence and snarling as we got further away. I wondered just how long he planned on standing there, but I guess we wouldn't be there to find out.

 

The parkade was a giant cement building about five floors high; I could see the gleam of cars reflecting through the openings. The booth at the entrance was empty of the operator and so we just ducked underneath the yellow and blacked stripped bar to get inside.

"I'm parked on the third floor," Alex said as she readjusted her backpack on her shoulders.

 

We followed her over to the door labelled 'stairs' and started up the cement steps. The stairwell was dark, barely lit by the tiny windows slits. Relief washed over me as Alex opened the third floor stairs and light poured in. We passed by parked vehicles after parked vehicle, until Alex stopped at a Chevy Silverado. It was in good shape, no rusting anywhere on its black paint job.  

"How much gas do you have?" Meghan asked, throwing her backpack into the truck bed.

"Had a full tank before we drove here," Alex answered throwing her own backpack then Tobin's, beside Meghan's

"We should probably fill up and get extra gas before we leave the city," I said, not sure if I wanted to throw my backpack with the rest or have it with me in the cab.

"We have lots of gas stored at our cabin," Alex said

We jumped into the truck, with Ali in the middle seat and Meghan and I on either side of her in the back. There was a surprising amount of room considering the truck didn't have an extended cab. I looked out the back window longingly at my backpack, wishing I had brought it in here with me. If I lost that, I really had nothing with me. Alex started the vehicle and Tobin buckled herself in. We made it down to the first floor only to be stopped by the yellow and black bar and with no one operating the booth, it just stood in our way.

"So, anyone here ever work in a parkade booth?" I asked and of course everyone shook their head.

"Ram it?" Meghan suggested but the look on Alex's face said that was not an option.

"Do you think it will move up if we just lift it?" I asked because I wasn't sure if the mechanised arm would let us.

"Only one way to find out," Meghan muttered as she climbed out of the truck.

 

She tested the bar first and it gave way to the lifting motion. The bar rose higher as she walked from the end to the part that connected with the booth. Slowly, Alex inched past the booth and Meghan let the bar drop as she ran to get back in. We rode in tight-lipped silence as we tried to drive out of the city. No one dared to make a sound, too focused on scanning our surroundings. 

 

Vehicles were abandoned all over the road, their owners nowhere to be see. Alex had to manoeuvre around a big cluster of parked vehicles, which entailed us driving partway on the sidewalk.

"Eh, guys" Ali said as she pointed at something out the windshield.

 

We all looked out to see what she was going on about. The bridge we needed to cross to head out of the city was not only blocked with numerous vehicles but a bunch of infected were ambling around and bodies were everywhere. Even if there hadn't been any sick people walking around, we wouldn't have been able to get across because the various abandoned cars and trucks were blocking every lane both ways. The bridge created a bottleneck where everyone tried to cross but no one made it over. The infected that were running around, were most likely the former owners of those vehicles.

 

The sound of the engine finally caught the attention of one of the infected and he started towards the noise. The other infected that saw this, mindlessly followed instep behind him.

"Um, maybe you should back up, yeah?!" I said, panic rising in me.

If the horde surrounded us we would be screwed. Alex threw the gears into reverse and slammed on the gas causing us to fly against the front seats.  Maybe I should learn to wear a seat-belt. I had to say I was quite impressed with Alex's driving skills, I remember the sorry state my bumper was in on my Honda from backing into so many things. 

 

She managed to back up without hitting anything and turned us around so that the herd were behind us. I looked back to see them fading as we drove away. The sight of a little boy no more than five, mixed with the horde, made me turn back around. His once blonde curls were matted with blood and his neck was a mess, the greasy blood dried all over his wound and shirt. 

"All of the major cities exit points are going to be like this," Meghan said quietly, "Do you know any other way out the city?"

Alex thought about it for a minute then said, "Yeah, but its backtracking."

"Would it involve going through downtown?" Ali asked, her frantic eyes glued to the window.

"No, but its a lot of back streets and then roads on the outskirts of town" she replied.

"Sounds better than running into that," I said motioning to the back window.

Everyone nodded in agreement. An hour later we found ourselves on yet another city one-way. Man, this place was littered with them but the main roads were either blocked or overrun so we stuck to the crappy one-ways.

"You're going the wrong way," Tobin studiously pointed out.

"Not like it matters," Alex sighed. "There are no people or police to stop us."

 

Tobin stared open mouthed at her in disbelief. It was like she couldn't comprehend breaking the law but yet seemed to be taking the whole zombie apocalypse thing very well, weird woman. 

"Look." Tobin pointed to a billboard sticking out between two building, It read 'Bobby Joe's Gun Shop' and I laughed out loud at the redneck gun shop name.

"What's so funny?" Ali asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

"Nothing." I looked back at the billboard, ignoring everyone's confused stares. 

 

Here we were, heading off to a gun store and I had never even stepped foot in one before. This was insanity, which just showed how dire our situation was. I started to bite at my nails as I worried over that thought.

"We're only bout' an hour away if we keep on these one-ways," Alex announced.

"I can't wait to have a weapon other than one crowbar," Meghan said, pointing her thumb at Alex.

 

I wasn't sure giving Meghan a gun or even a bat was a good idea; I hadn't decided if I trusted her or not. But who was I to say, I shouldn't be allowed to handle a weapon anyways.

"You guys know how to handle a gun?" Alex asked, almost as if she could read my mind. 

"Used to go to the gun range all the time," Meghan said.

"I used to shoot all the gophers that destroyed our yard," Ali admitted 

Everyone looked at me

"I used to play duck hunt all the time as a kid, does that count?" I offered up.

"So, no guns for you," Ali muttered.

"Trust me; it's for your benefit that I stick to a bat."

"Geez, even I can shoot," Tobin rolled her eyes as she said it. 

"Maybe ya'll can teach her then," Alex smirked at me via the rear-view mirror. 

Everyone chuckled at the look on my face. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided to stop with chapter summaries because they kinda give away whats going to happen, it's too hard to break down a chapter without basically telling you all if someone is going to die or whatever. As always, let me know what you think so far!


	9. Shopping Spree

We pulled into the gun shop parking lot, and by parking lot I mean a gravel pit. There was only one other car here, a small Mazda. 

"Well, at least this lace doesn't look touched," Meghan said as she peered out the window.

Tobin and Alex hoped out and opened the cab doors to let us out as well. 

"At least from the outside," Ali said, the crowbar gleaming in the light as she moved it. "I'll go in first and scout the place out, make sure it's empty. No point in us all putting ourselves in danger."

"But..." Alex grabbed her arm.

"Alex, I will be fine. In and out before you know it." She said calmly and Alex nodded in response 

"I'm going with you," Meghan said but Ali shook her head.

"I want you out here in case one of those things come roaming by, I know you got it," she stated.

"I'm going with you, don't even try to stop me Ali" I said as I stood beside her ready to go.

Ali nodded and started towards the front door. I looked at Tobin, who gave me a look i didn't understand. I caught up with Ali, who was already at the front door. 

"Do you think we should just go in the front door?" I asked, peering into the dark store. 

It looked like they weren't even open. 

"Let's see if they'res a back door," Ali suggested.

 

Gravel crunched under our feet as we made our way around the back. The grass was over-green but a worn footpath led us straight to the back door. It was old, but had a huge deadbolt right above the handle. Ali raised her crowbar to wedge the door open but I grabbed her arm.

"What if this place has an alarm? we'll attract everything within miles."

Ali seemed to think it over then said

"What if it doesn't?" I made a face at her comeback. "And if it does, let's just make sure we're gone before anything gets here."

"This is a gun store, they'd be stupid not to have an alarm," I pointed out.

"Exactly, this is a gun store. In the south. Who'd be stupid enough to rob it?" Ali asked, proud of her reasoning. 

"Fine, do what you want." I muttered and she jammed her crowbar in between the door and the frame. 

 

With a few moments of her grunting at the exertion, the door flew open and the door frame splintered into the air. The dead bolt was still sticking out of the door but now there was a giant whole in the frame where the bolt tore through. We held our breath as we waited for an alarm or infected to greet us but after counting to sixty, nothing happened. 

"Well, looks like there's no alarm," Ali said, slightly smug and I just rolled my eyes at her.

 

Hesitantly, we walked into the building, me right behind Ali. The old wooden floor creaked under our weight making my heart jump into my mouth with every step. The air smelt of sulphur and bleach; this is what I assumed a cleaned up murder scene would smell like. The back entrance lead straight into the employee only area; as evident by the employee lounge and office we passed. Both rooms were empty of people. The hallway led to the sales floor which was covered, wall to wall in guns. Huge rifles and shotguns lined the walls and the display counters were packed with handguns, knives and ammo. 

"We got lots to choose from," Ali said whispered and I nodded as my eyes wandered back to the impressive displays.

There were oversized duffels hanging from a coat rack and I grabbed a couple, handing one to Ali.

"should we grab the others?" I asked, "Or just grab what we can ourselves?"

"No, we can take more if we have more people to carry stuff," Ali answered.

We summoned the others from outside, handing each a duffel bag to fill as they entered the gun shop.

"This is like Christmas," Meghan grinned as she took in the sight. 

"Geez what kind of Christmas did you have at your house?" I commented

 

Everyone else was 'shopping' through the stock but I had no idea what to look for, I had never even shot a gun before. I went over to the knife display case only to find it locked.

"We need the shop display keys," I announced.

"Yeah, we also need the keys for these guns on the wall," Meghan said as she pulled one only to have it yank against the metal wire locking it in place.

She walked over to the knife display I was at and peered into the glass,

"Well you don't really need a key for this."

Meghan raised her coat covered arm and I instinctively moved my arm to shield my eyes, knowing full well what she was about to do. With brute force, her elbow connected with the glass display and shards erupted everywhere. Everyone stopped what they were doing at the crashing noise and stared.

"There," Meghan said while she stretched out the arm she used as a club.

 

I wasn't sure what to say to that so I just nodded, "Thanks, but unless you plan on sawing through the gun holding wires with your teeth Rambo, we still need a key."

Meghan smiled at that, and I felt like I was looking into the maw of a lion. She was a little more dangerous than she looked. I was definitely going to keep an eye on her.

 

I put down the duffel bag and walked back to the area labelled 'Employees only'. The keys had to be in the office we passed. Slowly, I opened the door and peered inside. The room was small; a nondescript desk with papers scattered all over taking up most of  the room. On the wall beside the door, there was a small metal cabinet and I bet that was where the keys were hanging. Inside was a bunch of keys, each labelled with a numbered tag and I groaned. We would have to test every one in every lock. I was about to grab them all when I noticed the last one Labelled 'Master key'. Well that was lucky. I grinned and shut the cabinet, twirling the key and tag around my finger.

"You find the keys?" Ali asked as I entered the sales floor. 

"I found 'the' key." 

 

I looked at the smashed knife cabinet, moving some of the larger glass shards off the merchandise. Ali held her hand up for the key and I tossed it to her. I leaned down to inspect the contents of the display case. Grabbing the largest knife I could find. I pulled it out and unsheathed it. The blade was perfectly sharpened and curved slightly. It looked like a hunting blade. I re-sheathed the knife and threw it into the duffel. After grabbing a couple more, I moved onto the handgun display which had already been opened and some guns placed on the display counter top. I eyed a few and picked the up to see how heavy they were.

"You'll probably want this one," Ali said handing me a silver and black gun. "It's a Bretta 9mm. Nothing fancy but it's a police and military standard, a good long range pistol and easy to find attachments and ammo for."

"Thanks," I said taking the pistol from her and giving it a good heft. "Seems like it's a good weight, not too heavy or light."

Ali rummaged through the display case and produced two matching metal tubes. 

"And here are the silencers for them" she said, dropping them in my bag.

I grabbed the other matching Bretta and added it to the bag. I also added extra empty magazines and a holster belt.

"Well Miss. Guns and Ammo, what else do you recommend?" I grinned at Ali. She chuckled and led me over to the gun wall.

"This here is a Blaser R9 professional rifle, lighter than a regular hunting rifle and holds more rounds," She rattled off, handing me the sleek, black weapon.

"I have to say this feels weird," I said raising the gun's scope to eye level.

 

I could see the crossed lines and aimed my sight to the employee's only sign. Having never held a rifle before, I felt really awkward and out of sorts with one in my arms.

"You need to rest the butt against your collar bone or in where your arm meets your torso," Ali pointed out as she moved the rifle butt from my arm to my collarbone.

It felt unnatural having it in that spot but I guess it was for a reason.

"Unless you want a broken arm, I suggest keeping it flush against that exact spot," she added.

"Alright," I said keeling down to add it to my highly illegal collection. "Now onto the ammo."

 

We walked over to the shelves, which were jam packed with small boxes, all marked with sizes and descriptions. I spotted the section that seemed to be labelled 9mm, remembering what Ali had said about the Beretta's.

"See you're learning." Tobin grinned as she threw a bunch of boxes into Alex's duffel.

"Know-it-all." I grinned over at her.

Ali showed me which ones to grab for my rifle and I added those to the mix. The bag was extremely heavy with all the ammo that was jingling around in there. By the time we were done and standing in the middle of the room, we had done some damage to the stock.

"Should we leave money or an I.O.U or something?" Ali asked as she threw her own over-flowing bag onto her shoulders.

"We could, but i'd bet they'd never collect," Meghan relied. "Plus you got the thousands of dollars to pay for all this?"

"Why yes I do, right here," Ali said and motioned like she was reaching into her pocket but produced her middle finger instead of a wad of cash.

We all laughed as Meghan groaned in response 

 

"Man this is something straight out of a Rambo movie." Meghan grinned as she motioned to all our stocked duffels.

"We should see what we can find in the back," I suggested.

 

Ali and I started back towards the employee lounge, hopeful to find some food to pack with us. We opened all of the lockers and rummaged through. All I found were granola bars and an opened bag of chips. I shoved the granola bars into my duffel but left the no doubt stale bag of chips.

"You find anything good?" I asked.

"Case of water," Ali said pointing to the 24 case of bottled water sitting in the corner by the fridge.

"Good find."

"You think we should take some of these paper plates and plastic utensils?" Ali asked pointing to the bags sitting on top of the refrigerator.

"Couldn't hurt."

I walked over and grabbed the necks of the bags and Ali leaned down to pick up the case when I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked right behind me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in one day, don't say i'm not nice!   
> Interested to know what you think is going to happen in the next chapter. Who's holding the gun to them? Also, if you have any requests on other player's you'd like to see in the story please comment below. Adding more at some-point and would rather add characters you want to see involved!


	10. Safety In Numbers

Both Ali and I froze at the sound.

"Now, turn around slowly and don't do anything stupid, ya hear?" A woman's voice said.

Ali and I shared a look before putting down our haul and turning around slowly. I could heard the blood pumping frantically in my ears and had no doubt that the colour had drained from my face. Oh god, what about the others? I didn't hear a gunshot so I hope they're ok.

 

The woman's appearance took me by surprise, she wasn't tall or tough looking, then I took in her whole outfit. She wore blue jeans, a tight plaid button down shirt and a pair of running shoes to finish off the look. I placed her in her early thirties at most. 

"Now, I don't want any trouble ok?" She said, her voice calm and collected

She sounded as though she was used to being an authoritative figure, there was something about the air around her, the way she carried herself with such confidence. 

"We don't want any trouble either," Ali replied in an equally calm voice, "What did you do to the others?"

Confusion washed over her face before she answered 

"I didn't do anything to them, only seen you two so far."

Ali visibly relaxed at the woman's words.

"What's your names?" She asked.

I swallowed the lump in my throat before replying. 

"I'm Ashlyn, and this is Ali and we don't mean any harm. Just needed something to protect ourselves."

"Well Ashlyn, my name's Heather, and I'm the owner of this establishment." After a second, Heather lowered her pistol and placed it in the holster on her belt. 

The relief I felt when she lowered her weapon was unparalleled. 

"Look, we didn't know anyone was in here, we would never have come in otherwise," Ali reasoned.

"Well, a bit late for that isn't it?" Heather said, raising an eyebrow at Ali.

"Uhm, we don't have the money to pay for the guns but maybe we could work something out?" I said trying to defuse the situation, "We could make a trade or put them on...lay-way?"

I silently cursed myself for making the stupid comment but Heather cracked a smile.

"Don't think credit works no more," she grinned at me, "I'll tell you what, you can keep the guns and ammo you have if you take us with you."

"How did you know we were going somewhere or that we even had a plan?" Ali asked suspiciously.

"You got that truck all loaded up in the back, and a map on the dashboard with a part circled," Heather replied, "Plus, last I heard most people were heading into the cities for the refugee areas."

"They're all gone." I said "well at least the school we were at is. The city was overrun, infected and shots going off everywhere."

"Wait, you said 'us', who else is there?" Ali eyed Heather.

"Just me and my friend, I just picked her up on my way here." Heather said.

 

Suddenly a scream rang out and it sounded like Alex. Heather looked at us then bolted towards the sound with us right on her heels. In the middle of the sales floor, Tobin had her arms wrapped around Alex with Meghan right beside them. A few feet away stood a woman about my height and age, holding them at gun point. 

"Heather, I found three," The woman said to Heather

Heather raised her arm and motioned for her to lower her gun. "It's alright Whitney, they aren't going to hurt us."

"But they stole a bunch of your guns," She said, with her eyes quickly darting to Ali and I 

"Not like we can use them all" Heather said, staring Whitney down until she lowered her own pistol.

 

Alex unlatched herself from Tobin and ran over to us, I grabbed her and pushed her behind my frame so I was in front of her.

"Well what now?" Meghan said eyeing Whitney and then Heather. 

"We were going to make a deal," I said.

"What kind of deal?" Tobin asked

"Heather said we could keep the guns and ammo if we let them come with us," Ali re-stated the terms.

"Hell no, this chick just pointed a gun at us!" Meghan yelled and gestured to Whitney. 

"How was I to know you weren't going to hurt us?" Whitney yelled back.

"That will be enough. We're all keyed up from all that's been happening, let's calm down," Heather said to them both. 

Meghan reluctantly nodded at her while Whitney placed her gun in its holster.

"Alright then how do you suggest we do this?" Meghan asked.

"Do what?" Heather asked. 

"We don't have enough room in the truck or even enough supplies for ourselves," Meghan answered. 

"We got a car and there's a small grocery store down the road some," Heather said, "It's like our own small community this far out. There's even a gas station in the same parking lot."

"Alright, grab your things and we'll meet outside," Ali said, tugging Alex towards the door.

"We'll only be about five minutes," Heather said motioning for Whitney to follow him.

 

Once we were back to the truck, we all tossed our duffels into the back.

"This is a bad idea Ashlyn," Meghan said running her hand through her hair. "We should just take off before they get out."

"We can't do that, they let us keep the guns," I said back.

"They just held us at gunpoint; you really think we can trust them?" Meghan kept trying to make her case. 

"Plus we will need them to show us where the grocery store is," Ali added 

Meghan looked away defeated knowing she was alone on this one. 

"Look, I agree that we can't trust them but we owe them and extra bodies could come in handy," Ali sighed, leaning her arm against the trunk. 

 

We seen them emerge from the door, both packing giant bags on their backs. They opened the Mazda's back doors and stashed their stuff then started towards us. 

"So what's the plan?" Heather asked as soon as they approached us.

"We need supplies so we can at least stay put for a week or so," Ali said

"My family own a cabin West of here but we only have so much canned goods and supplies there" Alex added

"Well if it's out in the woods, we could do some hunting," Heather stated. 

"Yeah, the game is pretty good out there and we just fixed up the property about a year ago. New fencing, solar panels and even a meat smoker."

 

I perked up at the sound of that. I hated the taste of wild meat, it was too gamey for me but a smoker meant jerky which tasted better and lasted longer.

"Sounds good" Heather said impressed, "How's the water situation?"

"We have a well that the cabin draws from but since we will be needing lots from it we will need more softener salts."

"Good thing we're going to a grocery store" Tobin added

"Good thing we have an extra vehicle, hey?" Whitney smiled. 

"You should lead the way since we have no idea where we're going," Ali said opening the truck's door. 

"It's just down the road," Heather pointed to the road heading to our left "about a three minute drive due South."

"We will be right behind you," Alex said. 

 

Heather and Whitney headed to their car and started the engine. Once they pulled out of the parking lot, we followed suit. I could hear the gravel crunch under the tires then the sound stopped once we hit pavement. The road was cracked and worn, definitely in need of a new layer of asphalt.

People must have really all fled into the city, there wasn't a soul anywhere; not even an infected. The buildings were all locked up and dark inside. I was half expecting a tumble weed to go rolling by. The street was void of any other vehicles, parked or otherwise.

"Wow, it's like a ghost town." Ali muttered

 

I could see the big sign that read 'Brookshire Grocery Company' and Heather's car veered off in that direction. The parking lot was empty except for a few cars and shopping carts. The small Shell station that shared the parking lot was not lit up either. Heather pulled up right in front of the doors so Alex followed suit. 

"How are we going to get in?" Meghan asked, "Your shop may not have had an alarm but i'm guessing this place does."

Heather looked at the door for a second then walked up to it, the doors parting open for her.

"Well that's kind of ominous," I muttered. 

"You should grab some of those guns you borrowed," Whitney motioned to the truck. 

 

We all rummaged through our bags and picked our weapons. I grabbed one of the Bretta's and fiddled with it until the clip fell out. I looked to see what Ali was doing and started to copy her. Grabbing a box of bullets, I popped a bunch into the magazine until it was full. I had counted fifteen bullets which I hoped was more than enough. I slid the clip back into the handgun, impressed with myself but then I grab the silencer realising I had no clue how to put one on. 

"Pass that here," Whitney said holding out her hand

 

I gave her a narrowed look to which she just rolled her eyes and kept her hand out for the gun. I grudgingly handed her the pieces which she put together with practised ease.

"You make that look easy," I sighed.

"Well I've been around a gun or two before," She said smiling while handing it back to me. 

 

The silencer added some more weight to the gun and made it feel even more awkward since its length was increased. I examined the gun and found the switch I assumed was the safety; after all I had seen a movie or two. The small light beside it was green and when I moved the switch to the other side, the light went red. I had no idea which colour meant what, Green usually meant go but did that mean go as in ready to shoot? Or green as in the gun is ok to move without accidentally shooting it? There was no way in hell I would ask Whitney that though.

"you girls ready?" Heather prompted.

Everyone nodded "Maybe Whitney and I should go in first," Heather said peering into the store.

"All that will do is put you two in danger and waste time," I said "safety in number."

Heather looked at me and nodded.

"Well, if we're worried about safety maybe you shouldn't wield that gun," Ali smirked at me

"I've got to learn somehow," I rolled my eyes at her "but to be on the safe side, I will stand off to the side and not directly behind you."

"Wait, haven't you ever shot a gun before?" Heather eyed me warily 

"Well, not a real one" I say, and I can see the concern wash across her face

"I swear to god, I better not end up with a bullet in my ass" Whitney said pointedly.

I flicked the safety to green, secretly praying that was the way to arm the safety and tucked it into the waist band of my jeans. I held up my empty hands and said,

"Happy now?"

"Well happy wouldn't be the right word but I feel a hell of a lot safer," Whitney sighed.

Drama Queen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 chapters in a day. Since it's passed midnight now, don't expect another update haha. I need some feedback so I know that i'm not just wasting my time with this story, so please comment


	11. Supermarket Dash

With Heather in the lead, we entered the quiet store. The emergency lights were on and muted light leaked through the front windows but the store was still a bit too dark to see properly. All the shelves and displays gave off elongated shadows which created a sinister look to everything. I couldn't hear any movement except for the sounds of our groups feet hitting the linoleum. We all split up into different areas in the interest of time. I claimed the pharmacy section.

 

I picked up a hand basket along the way and started down the aisle. I grabbed all the first aid items I could, like bandages and peroxide. I peeked around the corner to see Tobin filling up her shopping basket with all the hygiene items we needed, various soaps and shampoo. After filling my own basket I sat it down on the pharmacy counter and went around to the swinging door and let myself in. Somehow this felt more wrong than breaking into a gun shop. The shelves were still stocked with all the various medicines and I had no idea where to start. I started to skim the labels and grabbed anything that sounded like an antibiotic or painkiller.

 

I dumped all of the boxes into a new basket and stepped back out into the floor. With both baskets in hand, I went back to find Ali.  As I rounded the corner, I ran straight into the body of an infected, the force and the shock knocking both of us down. The baskets contents spilled all over the floor surrounding us. I scrambled back as the thing snapped at me and tried to get itself up while still coming at me. My back hit the pharmacy counter and I used it as leverage to get myself onto my shaky feet.

 

The infected reached towards me as it stumbled forward; its eyes were clouded over so bad that I couldn't even see the iris's colour. There was a big chunk missing from its shoulder and the wound leaked an almost brown coloured blood onto his grocery store uniform. In my panic I had completely forgotten about the gun holstered on my waist. I pulled it out and flicked the safety until I saw the small red light. I pointed it at the infected but my hands were shaking so badly that I couldn't hold it steady. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.. I missed and the bullet whizzed by the things head and embedded itself in one of the shelves. 

 

It was still coming at me and I only had time to make one more shot before it was on me. Never taking my eyes off it, I shot again. This time the bullet hit its mark, sort of anyways. It caught the infected in its good shoulder, causing him to spin around from the impact. It landed on the ground with a hiss and pushed itself back up again, not bothered by the bullet now adorning his body. I raised the gun to try again when the things head whipped to the side, brain and blood spraying in the air along with it. I looked to my right to see Whitney lowering her gun.

"You ok?" she asked as she ran up to me. 

All I could do was nod dumbly, too shocked from what just happened to speak.

"Oh my god Ash, are you ok?" Ali dropped her basket and ran over to me.

"She's in shock, I think. I don't see any blood," Whitney said giving me the once over.

Everyone else ran over to the scene at the sound of Whitney's pistol. After deciding I was fit to go, Heather said,

"We need to hurry. That shot was loud, who knows what else heard it."

 

After the others flew off into their areas to finish, Ali stayed behind with me.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Ali asked, placing her hand on my shoulder. 

"Yes," I said weakly then cleared my throat, "I've just never had to shoot a gun before and the fact I actually hit that thing freaks me out."

"The infected don't seem to feel it or even notice it," Ali tried to reason with me. 

"Yeah," I said and looked up at her, not realising I'd been staring at my feet, "It just got up and kept coming for me."

"But you're fine," she stated again.

My hand flew up to rest on my side where my scratch wound was still healing.

"I could have been one of those things," I said quietly

I'm sure the others wouldn't be too keen on finding out I had been attacked before. 

"You're not though. We saw how fast it turned Lindsey and all those other people. If you had been infected you would have turned by now." Ali pointed out.

 

I wasn't sure how convinced I was of Ali's words but I nodded and bent down to gather up the supplies I'd dropped. Maybe I was immune, or maybe the scratch didn't work the same as a bite; if that was the case then at least we wouldn't have to worry about being scratched in the future. The fact that the scratches were healing like a normal cut would, made me feel relieved but how would other people react? The last thing we needed was for people to go around killing each other thinking others were going to turn when they might not. 

Once Ali and I had finished stuffing all the supplies back into the overflowing baskets, we headed back to the front doors. As we walked, I gave one last look to the fallen infected on the floor, content with the fact he was no longer moving. At the entrance Meghan was handing out plastic grocery bags and we started to stuff our 'borrowed' supplies into them. Heather propped a mesh bag against the wall. 

"What's that?" I asked.

"A tent. I'm assuming we can't all fit into a hunting cabin," Heather said, adding the other camping gear and sleeping bags to the pile that he had found in the supermarket.

"Good idea," Alex said. "There are two small bedrooms and a pullout couch but it'll be crammed."

"We're going to need more supplies like gas stoves and other gear but I don't think we have the time for that right now," Whitney added in. 

"Once we get settled, we can make a run back into town," Tobin said, hauling all her bags out the doors. 

 

We dumped all the bags into the Mazda's trunk and the back of the truck.

"We need some bungee cables or something to hold all this down," Ali said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. 

"Ok, well I saw some in the back of the store with the campin' gear," Heather said,"I'll head back in and get some."

She took off back into the store before anyone could answer and Whitney followed in after her. 

"Where they going?" Alex asked

"Just ran to grab some ties for the back of the truck," Ali said tossing the last of the bags into the truck bed 

 

We just finished tossing in the last bag when Heather and Whitney re-emerged from the store with the bungee cables in hand. Heather had a red empty gas canister in both hands and tossed them into the back of their car.

"So are the gas pumps even working?" Tobin asked as we climbed into the truck.

"Only one way to find out," Alex said. 

 

The truck pulled up to pump number one while the Mazda took pump number three. We all hopped back out of the truck. Alex lifted up the nozzle and the machine sprung to life. She grinned triumphantly as she placed the nozzle in the gas cap opening of the truck. Three canisters later, we had a good amount of gas that would hopefully last us a while. 

"Good thing we don't have to pay for this, it would have been more than the guns," Meghan grinned. 

"So now do we just head out to your cabin and wait?" I asked, propping myself up against the side of the truck.

"wait for what exactly?" Alex asked. 

"I don't know, order to be restored. The infected to be cured," I listed off, "What I meant was, what's the plan?"

 

Alex ran her finger through her hair and glanced around the group briefly before answering. 

"There is no plan, getting to the cabin was the plan."

"Maybe the military will start taking over," Tobin said hopefully.

"That's not necessarily a good thing," Meghan muttered

"It's better than chaos," Ali said.

Meghan didn't answer but I could tell she wasn't going to be convinced. 

"Why isn't the military here yet anyways?" I asked.

"Too much ground to cover," Heather said as they approached us.

"There's got to be safe zones set up or something," Tobin said. 

"Probably somewhere, just not here." Alex sighed. 

"Although it would probably just end up like the school did, only takes one infected person to sneak in." I say

"Not necessarily, the military have training and fire power, plus they would be more organised than a bunch of volunteers trying to run an emergency shelter," Ali said back

"I have an old CB radio I grabbed on the way out," Heather said, "When we get to your cabin, we can fire it up and see if we can hear anything."

"Sounds like a plan," Ali nodded relaxing a bit by Heather's words.

"So how far is the cabin from here?" Whitney asked.

 

Alex reached into the truck cab and pulled out a map. We followed her to the hood of the truck and we spread it out. 

"The cabin is here," Alex said pointing to the circled spot on the map, "And we are here."

"Hmm, looks about 3 hours or so, depending if we run into anything or not," Heather said eyeing the trail Alex made with her finger.

How she could tell from looking at a map is beyond me. I needed Google maps for that

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment and let me know what you think so far.


	12. Chapter 12

We finally got out the city using the back roads and absolutely horribly designed one ways. Luckily we didn't run into any infected just a couple of other vehicles heading in the other direction. They all had junk piled on their roofs as they sped into the city, no doubt trying to get to the emergency shelters. I knew most of the shelters would fall just like the school had but the travellers wouldn't listen. We even flagged down a mini-van and tried to tell them about the city being overrun but they refused to believe us. I guess if you hadn't seen it yourself, you would have a hard time swallowing the truth. 

"Hey look there's a van!" Tobin exclaimed like an excited kid. 

 

We all peered out the windshield to see a newer model of a Dodge Caravan barrelling down the one way. Unfortunately we were going in the wrong direction on it so Alex slowed and moved over as far as she could. The van would be able to squeeze through, if they slowed down that was. Just before they reached us they finally slowed down and stopped. The driver got out the van and started to approach the truck. 

"Stay here," Alex said firmly to everyone

We all stared out at the woman walking calmly towards the truck. Alex rolled down her window before hopping out, no doubt to allow us to hear the conversation.

"Ah, you're kind of in the way," The woman said to Alex

"Sorry about that, had to use these roads to get out of the city," Alex said back.

"Why not the interstate or main arteries?" She asked confused.

"We just came from a city shelter they had set up and it was overrun. We figured the safest thing would be to lay low for a while in the country while we waited for the government and military to organise everything. 

"We're heading to the stadium one, was that the place you guys were coming from?" The woman asked. 

"No, the high school near downtown."

"I wouldn't take the chance," Alex looked over at the van "Especially with your family in tow."

"We don't know what else to do," The woman shrugged helplessly.

_Oh god, Alex better not ask them to come with us. The last thing we needed were more liabilities, although in all fairness that's all we were to Alex when she offered._

"You should turn back around and stay outside of city limits."

"Thanks for the advice but I think we will stick with our plan."

Alex looked really torn as she almost pleaded with the woman.

"Look, I have a hunting cabin about another two-three hours from here. You and your family are welcome to come with us."

"That's really kind but we think an official shelter would be best. I gotta look out for my family, you know?"

The woman gave us a small smile.

"Name's Christie by the way."

"Alex."

"Well thanks again for the offer Alex," Christie said as she started back towards her van

 

Slowly the van inched past us and Christie waved. I could see the curious faces of her young children pressed up against the van windows, watching us as they slowly drove by. I watched the van go past the Mazda and then Alex fired up the truck. Soon the van disappeared behind us and I found myself hoping they would find what they were looking for. 

 

The buildings had given way to a two-lane highway surrounded by trees in every direction. It seems so surreal considering we were pretty much just blocked in by buildings on all ends. The highway was clear. This was kind of creepy in my books; but we drove on, speeding with the Mazda still in tow.

 

There was a car pulled over to the side of the road and we gave it a wide berth as we passed. The driver side window was smeared with blood and the passenger side door was left wide open. The window was so dirty that I couldn't see in but Alex didn't give us much of a chance to gawk as she sped away from the abandoned car. Suddenly no one felt like talking anymore.

"So, anyone wanna play I-Spy?" Meghan grinned. 

Ali smacked her on the arm and she feigned being hurt. Honestly, the joke was in bad taste but at least it helped to relieve some of the tension. Soon I felt the truck slowing down and Alex flicked on her right signal light for Heather and Whitney behind us. The pavement ended with the highway and the sound of gravel crunching under our tires filled the cab. I could barely make out the Mazda behind us through the dust and gravel the truck was throwing up.

"I hope they can see," Ali said as she peered out the back window.

"I hope she's not too attached to that paint job," I said back.

"Well, black's not the best vehicle choice anyway," Meghan said

"So, I hate to be _that_ guy but, are we there yet? Ali asked.

"The gravel road turn-off means about another 45 minutes or so," Alex said, glancing in the rear view mirror. 

"Look!" Tobin pointed out from the passenger seat.

There was a deer bounding along the tree line beside us.

"Hmm, you weren't kidding about the game up here," Meghan said. 

"Yeah it's pretty good around this time of the year even though it's technically not hunting season yet," Alex pointed out.

"So what does that mean?" I asked

"It means we're only allowed to hunt for a few months out of the year and generally it's around October until January, so we're a little out of the limits," Alex answered.

"What happens if you hunt outside of the season?"

"Jail or a fine," Alex said "But I think that's the least of our worries."

She wasn't kidding.

 

 

By the time we pulled up to the heavy iron gate, I was officially starving. Alex got out of the truck to unlock the gate and swing it open. Meghan hopped out and drove the truck through and the Mazda followed. When Alex re-locked the gate she kicked Meghan into the back again. 

 

The immediate property was lined with barbwire fencing, the only break being the gate. I assumed their land went much further. The trees lined the area creating the feeling like we were in the middle of a forest, the only trail being the dirt road that led up to the cabin. The cabin itself was actually bigger than I expected. I was expecting a log cabin, but instead it was modernly designed, with a dark brown siding and I could see the solar panels lining the roof and a few propped around the garden on the ground. At the peak was a little window and I assumed that was a loft or something. 

"Nice," Meghan said impressed. 

Finally we were able to get out and stretch. I grabbed one of the bags from the back and took out a pack of beef jerky. Everyone grabbed some and soon we were all busy gnawing on the chewy junk food.

"So do we get the grand tour?" I asked, after taking a drink from my water bottle.

"Sure is a nice place you got here." Heather said, eyeing the solar panels.

 

We followed Alex around the back where there was a little garden with a few plants starting to sprout and a well a few feet away from that. There was a small shed with a pile of wood beside it, no doubt for the camp fire which was located a few meters from the side of the cabin. Then she took us inside. 

 

The air was musty from the place being locked up for so long without even a window cracked. The inside was furnished with very utilitarian type furniture that would last forever. Then I saw something that had me actually excited. 

"A bathroom, thank god!" I exclaimed 

"No bathing in a pond somewhere." Ali said, laughing. 

I made a face at that and she laughed even harder. The kitchen was small and a huge stainless steel contraption stood even taller than I was. The fridge was a small mini one so I assumed this thing wasn't a second fridge.

"Meat smoker," Alex said when she seen me eyeing the thing. 

"Ashlyn and I dibs this room!" Alex said as she flung her bag into the room.

Ali gave her a funny look and shrugged

"Sorry Ali, Ashlyn's big strong arms can protect me from the monsters at night" She joked.

I walked over to the room which was barely big enough to host the two single beds. I dropped my backpack onto the floor and peaked at the other room which was just a mirror of ours. 

"I dibs the loft!" Tobin yelled excitedly as she climbed the wooden ladder that lead to a small ledge area. 

I guess that window was really for a loft after all.

"Wait, does this mean we're bunking together?" Meghan asked Ali with a perplexed look on her face. 

"Well, it's that or the couch," Ali said as she dropped herself onto the couch in question. 

Dust flew up and Ali started to cough as she waved away the dust surrounding her. 

"Not much of a choice," Meghan muttered. 

"Well, at least you don't have to put up with Alex's snoring" Tobin joked from on her ledge, sending a wink in Alex's direction.

I just rolled my eyes, typical that i'd be left with the one that snores. 

"Oh, it's not that bad, Tobin." Alex said trying to defend herself

"I honestly don't know how you don't wake yourself up," Tobin said, "It's like a chainsaw."

Ali laughed at the exchange and shot me a look then said "Have fun trying to sleep."

"you guys brought sleeping bags right?" I asked Heather and Whitney.

"Yeah and a couple extras, if you need any," Whitney nodded. 

"Maybe you guys should camp out in the living room until we make sure it's safe," Ali suggested. 

"Won't hear me complaining," Whitney said. 

"You might when you hear Alex snore," Tobin grinned and Alex lobbed a pillow up at her

"It isn't that bad, dammit!" she yelled back. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think?


	13. Target Practise

I slept like the dead that night, pardon the pun but it was true. We all did. The lack of sleep from the previous nights and the constant stress really did a number on a person; I even slept through Alex's snoring. The others were already up by the time I rolled out of bed, following the very welcome smell of coffee. It was only instant coffee but I gratefully accepted the cup from Ali. Tobin was still up in the loft keeping an eye out the small window, if anyone saw anything it would be her. Heather was tinkering with the CB radio she brought, trying to get it to play. 

"How long have you been at that?" I asked after downing about half the cup of coffee.

"Not too long, about five minutes or so," Heather answered.

"And still nothing?" I asked. 

"A few words here and there but unless I know the frequency i'm looking for, it's just a shot in the dark," Heather shrugged

"You got a radio in here or anything?" Whitney asked scanning the room."

"Here," Tobin said as she climbed down from her ledge

She placed the plastic, bright pink radio on the counter. 

"Better than nothing," Whitney shrugged and flipped the on switch.

 

Immediately the room was filled with yet more static noise, but as she scanned down the channels a voice soon caught our attention but was gone too soon.

"Go back," Alex said jumping right next to Whitney. 

Carefully, as if she was doing surgery, Whitney turned the knob back and the needle barely moved. 

_"...indoors as much as possible. Gather all supplies you can and wait for further instructions. Again, we repeat, under no circumstances are you to engage the infected. The virus is passed through contact and is not air born. All those with firearm licences are strongly encouraged to obtain a weapon, only to be used in the case of extreme emergencies. We ask that you hold tight until the military is able to make it to your region, we are doing what we can to stabilise the remaining population and restore order. Keep strong and God bless......This is an emergency broadcast. The date is February 13th, 2016 at 8:15 am and the martial law had been declared. The president has fallen and vice President, Mr Biden has taken the position in this grave time to lead our great country. The virus has gone international and now has been classified as epidemic in proportion. You must avoid infected at all costs and try to stay indoors as much as possible...."_

Whitney flicked off the radio when it started to repeat. It was clear the message was on a continual loop. 

"That was yesterday." Ali said quietly.

"Holy shit, the president is gone." Meghan said in disbelief, leaning further into the couch 

 

I was no expert but I was pretty sure the situation must be quite dire for them to announce something like that. I noticed how they didn't tell us to go anywhere like the newscast had a couple of days ago. Either they thought we really were safest in smaller numbers or there was no safe place left standing to go to. I looked down into my coffee cup wishing I had something stronger, maybe some tequila.

"I can't believe they were encouraging folks to get guns," Alex said astounded.

"A situation like this is unprecedented, basically they're saying we're on our own," Heather said. "Well, if we're going to go around armed, we best get some practice."

"Why do I have the feeling that was aimed at me?" I grinned despite the grim newscast and everyone chuckled.

"Cause it was," Meghan smirked back, pushing herself off the couch.

"We can't do it here though, we need to move away so that the sound isn't linked back to the cabin," Heather said, "You know of any fields within ten or so miles?"

Alex thought about it.

"Don't know, there is some crop fields back the way."

"Guess that will have to do then," Heather said. 

"What will we use for targets?" Tobin asked

"Those empty water bottles and whatever else we can find along the way," Whitney suggested.

 

Everyone sprang into action while I finished my coffee. I was no good to the world without my coffee. I grabbed my Beretta with the silencer still attached and a box of ammo and shoved the piece into the holster; making sure I checked the safety was on. The holster I grabbed was the one with a hole in the bottom so even though the handgun had a silencer on it, it still fit. Then I looped on my holstered hunting knife on the other side of the belt. Needless to say, I felt pretty badass walking out my room with all my weapons. I swear it was like 100 degrees outside so I opted for my shorts and tank top with a pair of versatile flats. Actually come to think of it, I felt kind of like the blonde Lara Croft. 

 

Heather was the only one by the truck when I finally exited the cabin. She nodded at me as I approached the truck. 

"You ready to go?" She asked

"Yep," I said, looking at her outfit, "How are you wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt when it's this hot out?"

She cracked a grin in response.

"Glad you decided on the shorts cause I wouldn't be dragging you back," Ali joked as she approached me. 

"Glad to know I have such great friends," I joked back.

Ali plunked the bag she had into the back of the truck and then turned to us.

"So decided which way we should go yet?" Ali asked Heather.

She pointed to a section on the map, "According to Alex, this is an empty field and it's fenced all around so we should be ok if we go there."

 

As the others joined in our little pow-wow, I could hear the tinkling of cans as they rolled around in the plastic bags the others were carrying. With the location in mind, we headed off.

 

Instead of going back the direction we came, we went further into the rural area. All the roads were gravel this far out and again the Mazda was stuck following in our dust trail. The tall trees helped to shade us from the unrelenting sun which made the trip slightly more bearable. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky to filter out some of the rays. all three of us that were crammed into the back were desperately trying not to lean on each other, not wanting body heat to add to the already raised temperature. Alex said it was unusually hot for February, which was just my luck.

 

We came up to a rotted gate that boasted a 'No trespassers' sign and Alex had to hop out to kick it open. The dirt path eventually just stopped and all I could see for miles was row after row of grass and crops. As we walked away from the vehicles, we stayed close to the fence line so that we could easily find our way back.

"This looks pretty good," Alex said as she scanned the immediate area. 

"about as good as any," Whitney agrees and we started to set up the cans and bottles. 

 

Using some of the well water, we had to pour some liquid into the containers so that they would stay put on the fence. I voluntarily took the targets at the very end.

"Alright, so I grew up working with my grandad in that gun store you found me in, so I've had plenty of practise with guns" Heather said, standing slightly in front of us, "This is your safety, this is your clip release and this is the trigger."

Meghan rolled her eyes at the last one.

"You must keep your trigger finger on the side until you're ready to shoot, otherwise we will have some trigger happy accidents." Heather continued on, "These notches are for aiming. The one in the front must align in the middle of the two on the back."

 

She went on for a while before finally using her own gun to demonstrate taking a shot. She lifted the pistol to eye level and took aim. She looked calm as she slowly squeezed the trigger and one of the bottles exploded when the shot rang out. That was one thing the movies never got right, just how loud an actual gun shot was. Admittingly it was less loud than the shots in the grocery store but that was because we were out in the open. 

 

We all spread out just a little bit more to try it ourselves. I flinched at the sound of the others shooting but once I started myself; the other sounds faded into the background. My first few shots missed by miles but as I got more comfortable I started to at least hit the fence and even one bottle. I hit the release button and the empty clip slid out. I fished the other loaded clip from my bag I brought and reloaded the gun. Everyone else was doing pretty good but some bottles and cans remained untouched on the fence, almost seemed like they were mocking us.

"You need to slowly squeeze the trigger, you're jerking it which jolts the gun and ruins your aim," Whitney offered me some advice.

I took time to line up my shot and slid my finger to the trigger, only this time I took a breath and released it as I slowly pulled down on the trigger. The shot landed on the very bottom of one of the bottles but it still went flying into the grass behind the fence. 

"See, there you go," Whitney grinned, patting me on the shoulder. "Also, make sure your gun goes up when you fire not down or else the shot goes off target."

"Thanks," I said as I turned back to my targets.

With renewed vigor, I took my time and managed to hit the remaining bottles and cans. Had they been moving, that would have been a different story. I'm sure the infected wouldn't stand still for me, even if I asked politely. I wondered how Heather planned to train us with moving targets? Dangle a bottle with a string from a tree branch?

"Wow, you hit them!" Meghan exclaimed when she saw the empty fence in front of me.

"Damn straight," I grinned proudly back at her

"You all did good," Heather said, making me feel less special, "But chances are, those things aren't gonna stand still for you."

Looks like she had been thinking the same thing.

"Well what would you suggest?" Tobin asked, as she slid her empty clip out the gun. 

"That's the question isn't it?" Heather said contemplating what to do. 

"We could do real target practise," Meghan suggested.

"maybe you should elaborate slightly on that" Ali said, concerned.

Meghan grinned like she had made a joke, "I meant go find a bunch of the infected in an area and they can be our target practice."

The idea creeped me out but Meghan had a valid idea. The whole reason we were in this field right now was to practice shooting so we could defend ourselves against those things. But was I or anyone else ready to unload on a bunch of infected?

"Ok, say we do this. Where would we go?" Heather asked 

"Well, it would start with us having to head back towards the city because there would be more infected there than out here," Meghan suggested. 

No one said anything; not too keen on heading back to the place we had just fled from.

"Well we can't all just pack up and go. What if something happened here while we're gone?" Alex pointed out. 

"Like?" Whitney prompted. 

"Infected wandered in and the place got over run or what if some other people come by and took the cabin?" Alex listed off. 

"Well we could split into groups I guess and take it in turns," Heather compromised. 

"We could always pick up some more supplies when we went in," Ali pointed out. 

"Alright let's head back to the cabin and plan this out properly," Heather said. 

 

No one said anything as we walked back to the vehicles; their minds too preoccupied with the thoughts of heading back into that mess. As much as I hated the idea, it was the only way to familiarise ourselves with the infected and learning to defend ourselves against them. If we just hid out at the cabin for who knows how long and infected showed up, we would be sorely out of practise in dealing with them. 

"How about we just give it a couple of days?" I suggested. "Let us get more experience with the bottles and stuff first."

"Probably a good idea," Heather nodded. 

I moved my arm around a bit to stretch the sore muscles. That's another thing they didn't show you in the movies, the pain that accompanies the kick-back from the gun.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this is the last chapter that I had already pre-written so from now on don't expect the chapters to be updated quite as quickly. Still aiming for one a day though.


	14. Fresh Meat

"Ok how about two Reece's Pieces for some deer jerky?" Tobin pleaded again.

"No way, the jerky's mine!" I stood strong in the face of chocolaty temptation.

We were running extremely low on supplies so we have been resorting to bartering amongst ourselves. We never made that trip a couple of months ago; was it just a couple? man, it felt like a lifetime ago. All radio stations had quit broadcasting, even the emergency ones. We could no longer see the lights from the city so the nights were beyond dark.

We opted for the safer route, which was to wait here and see if help came instead of running into the city we just escaped. Well obviously since we were still sitting here arguing over junk food, it was a wise choice- yes that was sarcasm. So now we really did have a choice to make, starve or chance a run into town to grab some much needed supplies. On the plus side, with nothing but time on our hands, we had gotten a lot of target practice and I've even been on a few hunting trips. Not that I was much use to them.

 

Basically it was to show me how to use my rifle. Damn Whitney showed me up every time. But at least she got her comeuppance.

"This is unholy early" I yawned, pulling my rifle strap back up my shoulder.

The damn thing kept slipping off as I trekked behind Whitney in the rough terrained forest. Well it was rough to me anyways. 

"Six in the morning is the best time to catch game," Whitney once again pointed out. "Hey it was you who wanted to learn anyway."

"Yeah but I didn't know it entailed getting up at 5am!" I shot back

I was not a morning person. I saw her clutch her jaw and then she picked up her pace leaving me to scramble behind her just to keep up in the face of all these tree roots. This kept up for another hour and I really was regretting my decision to attend this Whitney hosted event. I heard the crunch of leaves off to our right and Whitney held up her closed fist which I assumed meant 'sit still and shut up' so I did. Slowly Whitney slid her rifle off her shoulder and moved quietly towards the noise. 

I opted to stay standing since I would most likely trip and fall thus ruining any chances of catching something. Or worse, alert something to our presence. I turned my head and squinted to try and see what made the noise. I couldn't see much but I spotted a mass of brown fur with white spots. I may have been a 'City girl' as Whitney called me but I knew that was a deer. The grin spread on Whitney's face reinforced my guess and she crept silently closer while bringing the rifle up to eye level. Then what happened next was quite strange.

 

One minute Whitney was approaching the deer and the next she was gone, almost like the ground had swallowed her up. I heard her let out a yelp of surprise and the deer bolted off in the opposite direction. I ran to where Whitney had disappeared  and heard a "Stop!" I came to a halt just in front of what looked like a pitfall and Whitney was standing at the bottom. This was not a natural formation, which led me to believe this was a man made hunting trap. I peered down into the trap at Whitney and I couldn't help myself. 

"It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again." I burst out laughing.

Needless to say, Whitney didn't look amused.

"That's real hilarious," She drawled and I clutched my sides from laughing so hard.

 

Roots were sticking out in every direction and dirt was constantly sliding down the sides and landing on Whitney's hat and shoulders. The hole must have been seven or eight feet deep but wasn't very wide; maybe enough for two people who knew each other pretty well to fit.

"Give me your hand," She said as she held out her own.

Still chuckling, I leaned down to offer mine as I said, "Give me the ring." Then I burst out laughing again.

 

She rolled her eyes, but I could see a semblance of a smirk on her face. Finally, with much effort on my part, I stopped laughing long enough to help her out of the hole. I strained to lift as she dug her boots into the loose soil while grasping at the gangly roots. It took a couple of tries because she would loose her footing and I had to let her hand go or risk being pulled down with her. 

"We never speak of this again," She huffed.

Both of us were sitting side by side on the forest floor trying to catch our breaths. I started to chuckle again at the bizarre situation and Whitney shook her head. 

"Come on, when would I ever get a chance to say that again?" I laughed. 

Whitney grinned, "Fair enough. But not one word."

"Fine," I muttered, "Bad karma's a bitch huh?"

"Whatever, let's just see if we can track that deer down." She said dusting off her pants which were covered in loose soil.

 

A few hours later, the sun was getting relentless and was even boring down through the thick roof of foliage. I could feel the start of sunburn on my nose and shoulders.

"Hurry up," Whitney demanded. 

"You better be a bit nicer country gal or else I'll tell the whole camp," I grinned. Wasn't leverage great?

She turned her attention back to the fresh deer tracks and studiously ignored me. To be fair, she had taught me a great deal about tracking. The older the tracks, the more leaves and twigs were crushed and broken. The fresher tracks usually weren't covered, but stood out in the dirt floor. The tracks we currently found, fell under category number two, so we were close to finding something. I could hear the faint sound of rushing water and Whitney had mentioned that brooks and ponds were the best place to find game.

 

I mirrored what Whitney was doing and followed closely behind her as we approached the brook. Luck was finally on our side. The deer had stopped to take a drink and I could have jumped for joy except that would have put us back to square one. Whitney didn't dare get any closer as she lifted the scope to her right eye and took aim. I plugged my ears now fully aware of how loud a rifle really was, thanks to the copious amounts of target practice. The shot rang out but before the deer could react the bullet hit him sending it to the forest floor. We ran up to it and it was still alive. Whitney pulled out her hand gun and shot it in its head to end its misery.

 

I couldn't understand why but I felt bad. I am by no means a vegetarian or a member of PETA but having witnessed this first hand I wasn't sure I wanted to do it again. Well at least this was a legal way to get out your serial killer tendencies. Whitney turned to me with a grin plastered to her face.

"Finally! that took forever" She exclaimed.

"So what now?" I asked, not sure I could stomach her gutting it. 

"Well we should gut it here so it's lighter to take back," Whitney said "But it will rot faster if we cut into it."

"Plus it will leave a nasty trail leading back to the cabin," I pointed out.

Whitney seemed to think about it as she pulled out a folded map and compass. 

"Looks like the deer took us back around, we're actually only 'bout an hour's walk with dragging the deer back, from the cabin," Whitney noted as she read the pen-marked map.

 

So we got to work and found a strong, lengthy tree branch to truss up the deer on. I felt like a caveman dragging their kill back to their cave. We both had an end of the branch with the deer between us, hanging from its tied legs. Whitney had brought the extra strength rope with her in her small backpack, which I never would have thought of. She said we were lucky because the deer was a small one but to me it seemed like it weighed a ton. I got the end with the head which made me cringe every time I looked at it.

I was about to demand we stop for a break so I could give my shoulder a break when the trees started to thin out and more light became visible. I sighed in relief knowing this meant we were finally getting out of the forest and back to the cabin. Heather and Meghan met us at the property fence and I gladly handed the thing over to them.

"Look at that," Heather said as she inspected the deer, "We better get this thing cut up fast."

"I'll take a pass on that," I said as I massaged my shoulder.

"You should learn how just in case," Whitney grinned, flexing her own sore shoulder.

"Unless you want to see someone throw up, it's better I don't" I insisted

"Why are you covered in dirt?" Meghan eyed Whitney suspiciously and I burst out laughing again. See this is what happens when I don't get my sleep; I get delirious. 

 

I don't know how they gutted and disposed of the parts but I didn't ask. That night we had fresh cooked deer and it was delicious. I still felt bad about having to kill it but my hunger washed away my hesitation. They decided it wasn't worth the risk to keep it for fresh meat any longer so they smoked the rest of it and I guess we would be dining on deer jerky for quite a while.

"Alright, so we're down to about ten percent of our food supplies and essentials," Heather said as we all situated ourselves around the camp fire. 

"I thought we had a bit more than that left," Tobin said as she rubbed her chin in thought. 

"Nope, so this means we really have to make that trip into town," Heather said "But we have to plan this right."

Everyone looked deep in thought but the crackle of the walkie-talkie brought us out of it. 

"Guys, we got a worse situation over here," Alex's voice sounded out. "I just found our first infected."

Heather picked up the walkie before anyone was even able to get up.

"What marker are you by?" She asked.

"The 4th one," Alex's voice answered. 

"We'll be right there." Heather said as she made sure her guns were on her belt and she bolted off towards the direction of the marker.

I hopped up and followed Heather, briefly registering that Meghan was right behind me.

The sun was setting but it was still light enough that we could see without flashlights and in the distance I could see Alex's silhouette against the rays from the setting sun. I could also see a second figure which appeared to be stuck on the barbed wire fence. Alex was standing far enough from the thing that its grabbing hands were uselessly flinging up and down in attempt to reach her. 

 

The odd thing, aside from the walking around dead part, was that the infected was wearing hunting gear which was torn and dirtied from being out in the forest. This guy must have been camping out in the woods and gotten infected but the question was how did he get infected? I thought it took actual contact with a sick individual to turn someone. That was a scary thought. His face was barely there it had become so decayed. His lips were chewed off and a chunk of his cheek was missing. The other side was so sunken in that his cheek bone stood out painfully against his emaciated and discoloured face.

"What should we do with her?" Alex asked. 

"Shoot it," Heather said with finality.

"Then what?" I asked. 

"Burn it," Heather said back as I made a face at that.

There was no way that would smell good

"How about we bury him?" Meghan suggested and I agreed

"Fine."

Alex raised her gun to shoot the now snarling infected but Heather grabbed her arm. 

"We're on the cabin property and that shot will be quite loud," Heather reprimanded Alex

"Well then what do you suggest?" Alex huffed.

Heather turned to me, "Ashlyn has a silencer on her Beretta."

I didn't like where this was going. I didn't like the smirk that was encroaching on Alex's face either.

"By all means" Alex smiled too nicely and I thought maybe I should 'accidentally' shoot her. 

"If you hand me your gun I can shoot him" Heather offered but I knew I would never live it down if I chickened out 

"No, I'll have to do it one day why not start now?" I said, proud that my voice hadn't given way to my unease. 

 

They backed up a few feet and I removed the silenced Beretta from my hip holster. The still shiny metal coating reflected the dimming light as I lifted the pistol to eye level and flicked the safety off. I took a deep and slightly shaky breath as I aimed and slowly squeezed the trigger. 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this chapter quotes a part of the movie Silence of the Lambs. Apologies if you've not seen the film and got confused as to what Ash was talking about when Whitney was stuck in the pit


	15. Day Trip

I rolled over for the millionth time tonight as the scene from earlier kept plaguing my mind. The problem wasn't that I missed, it was that I didn't. In fact my shot was dead on, which wiped the smirk off Whitney's face. I remember the infected's head whipping back as a mass of discoloured brain matter and blood sprayed out behind him. It was like someone had spit out a mouthful of Campbell's chunky soup. I was mixed up in what I should be feeling; I mean that guy was alive once, maybe he had a family who were still waiting for him to come home.

Was I technically a murderer? were the infected even alive? I mean no living creature could survive with the amount of damage and decay that guy had.

"Stop rolling around so much," Alex hissed from the other bed. 

"Oh, I'm keeping you up? That's rich," I hissed back.

She mumbled something as she flipped away from me and I assumed it wasn't rated PG. Finally I gave up trying to sleep and decided to get some fresh air. I closed the front door quietly behind me and I was surprised to see Ali sitting on the truck gate that was folded down. She glanced up at the sound of me approaching and relaxed when she seen it was me and not an infected.

"Can't sleep either?" She asked as I hopped onto the gate.

"No, I keep thinking about that infected guy," I admitted

"Me too," Ali said.

"If he got here, how long before more show up?" She added. 

"Oh joy, now there's that to worry about" I sighed and I could see the corners of her mouth lift up.

"You upset about shooting the thing?" 

"Wouldn't you be?" I countered.

She seemed to think about it

"Probably."

"Very helpful," I muttered.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," She shrugged, "And it will happen to the rest of us soon."

"It's depressing," I said

"Yeah it is but its about survival now, so we gotta do what we gotta do," She said with conviction. 

"But we live in a society that punishes those who kill, even those who kill in self defence are persecuted in a way," I said back

"Society changes, It never used to be that way, look at western times compared to now, But anyway, you gonna be ok for our supply run tomorrow?" Ali said

"I'll be fine thanks," I reply

"You can stay here with Tobin if you want, she's sure to keep you distracted" She pressed

Tobin had opted to stay here with Alex and even though she put up a fuss about it, Meghan reluctantly agreed to stay behind in case something happened. So our scavenging group consisted of Ali, Heather, Whitney and I.

"Geez you trying to get rid of me?" I eyed her back

"Nah, just with what happened earlier I thought maybe you would want to,"  She shrugged.

"The last thing I want to do is sit here and think about it," I sighed "Plus the more hands the better. We can bring back more that way."

Ali nodded, not entirely believing me. Hell, I don't think I believed myself but I knew that siting around here wasn't going to help and we really did need supplies since it looked like a rescue wasn't coming after all. Where was the military anyways? We hadn't seen or heard so much as a helicopter since the beginning of all this two months ago. It was hard to believe we were that screwed; there had to be some sort of military operation somewhere. Maybe we just had to go to them instead of waiting to be rescued. Lazy government. 

 

We made small talk for another hour, staring at the blackened sky. The only illumination coming from the moon and the stars which you could see clear as day. An oxymoron, I know. I said goodnight and trudged back to my uncomfortable bed to try to sleep. That night I didn't dream of zombies but for the first time, of my family back home.

 

We took turns showering that morning, the lukewarm water was still better than no water. I dumped out my backpack contents and filled it with water, some measly amounts of food and extra ammo. My second pistol was thrown in there, with the safety on, and the other was secured to my belt. Heather had the map spread out on the picnic table to try to route this thing out. 

"Ok so our best bet isn't to go back into New Orleans but to hit up a town or city around it," Heather said, her fingers swiping across the arteries of the map. "I was thinking Gretna since it's on this side of the Mississippi River."

"What's the population like?" Meghan questioned. 

Even though she wasn't coming on the trip, she still wanted to be part of the planning. 

"Decent size. We'll find lots of stores and houses to gather supplies from. There's even a police station we could check out," Heather answered. "But it's not so big that we would have a sea of infected to go through."

"Zombies." Tobin corrected her

"What?" Alex asked her confused by her sudden word

"Ya'll keep calling them infected but they're zombies," Tobin exasperated. 

Well she wasn't wrong; I guess we still felt stupid actually saying that out loud.

"Alright, we won't have as many zombies to worry about like we would in New Orleans," Heather reiterated.

"How far is it from here?" I asked. 

"Two hours give or take, depending on what we come across." Heather said. 

"How do you always know these things?" I asked genuinely curious.

Heather chuckled. "I grew up here, moved here from New Jersey when I was a kid to help out my Grandad in the gun store, he taught me map reading."

Man, I couldn't even tell you what direction I was facing at the moment; well at least not without a compass.

"I think you should take my truck," Alex said, "Even though it's not as quiet as your car, it will carry more."

"Probably a good idea, just in case we run into a group of infected somewhere. Your truck will have a better chance of not getting caught in it." Whitney added and Heather nodded. 

"Ya'll packed?" Heather asked looking around at all of us with our backpacks and gear on

"Looks like it," Ali said

 

We tossed our bags into the back of the truck and tied them down with a tarp and cable ties, which we would need for when we bring all the supplies back. Tobin came up to me and gave me a giant hug.

"Can't breathe," I squeaked out through her squeezing. 

"Don't die, ok?" She said to me.

"Well, since you asked so nicely..." I grinned, "And same goes for you. Use your secret Hillbilly skills if need be."

Next Meghan gave me an awkward, one armed hug,

"Don't accidentally shoot anyone."

"Hey, I've improved!" I said indignantly 

"Just saying," She shrugged and I resisted the urge to kick her in the shin.

 

Heather hopped into the driver's seat and Whitney went into the passenger seat since she was the navigator. Which left Ali and I to share the back.

With one last wave goodbye, we were off. The sight of the three standing at the top of the dirt driveway slowly faded as we sped away. The bright morning sun shone through the windshield as we headed towards the I-90. We had decided to try out the interstate first because it would be the fastest route but if it was too clogged, we would opt for the detour. Heather already had a few back up plans up her sleeve. 

The overpass we used to get onto the interstate was clear, which I took as a good sign. The road was clear up until we hit more populated areas; that's when the exit ramps became clogged with abandoned vehicles. Some cars had been left on the side of the road, some even in the middle of the road. Since the interstate was multi-lane we were able to get around the parked cars no problem. As we slowly passed those stopped vehicles we got a better look. 

Some were just left, with their doors hanging wide open while others had long dried blood smeared up the windows. An infected, sorry a zombie, launched itself from the inside of a Kia against the drivers passenger window. This surprised us all and I jumped back from the window instinctively, right into Ali. 

"You know he's stuck in there right?" Ali said as she rubbed her side where I accidentally elbowed her when I made my hasty retreat.

"Still it jumped out of nowhere!" I said back, easing myself into my own seat once again. 

 

The rest of the drive was virtually quiet except for any directions Whitney gave. We passed a few straggling infected, which stumbled after us as we passed. They weren't very fast, it seemed like they couldn't even run and most were in a state of major decay. Their clothes hung off them in tattered rags and all had discoloured, scaly skin. One that used to be a woman; at least I thought it was a woman because of the long stringy hair dangling from its scalp, was even missing a major portion from its arm. No blood poured from the wound as she wagged her stub back and forth in an attempt to gain speed to chase us. 

I know we were still a bit away from Gretna, but I seen a sign that beaconed in the distance. It was no longer lit up but I could see it perfectly in the late morning light. Wal-Mart.

"Guys, I don't think we even need to go to Gretna," I said as I pointed out the giant, warehouse looking building.

Heather stopped the truck as she spotted the far away red writing, We all looked at each-other and Heather finally said,

"Best place as any."

"Which exit should i take?" Heather asked Whitney, who had the map.

"The one labelled Harvey," Whitney said as her eyes scanned one of the maps. "That's the town it's in."

We slowly drove up to the one signed Harvey, only to see that an old Dodge was blocking the Entrance

"Come on Whit, let's push it outta the way," Heather said as she unbuckled herself from the front seat. 

We peered out all the windows to see if they would make it un-noticed but a few of our groupies were still hanging on and closing in on the parked truck. 

"You got your hunting knife?" Ali turned to me and I gulped.

"Yeah,"

"Alright, Ash and I will take those three out while you two push the truck outta the way," Ali rattled off and before I could voice my unease, everyone vacated the vehicle. 

As soon as my feet hit the pavement I unsheathed my hunting knife that was strapped to my belt and followed Ali who had a machete now gripped in her hand. I kind of wish I had brought a bat or something else with length so I didn't have to get so close. I seen Ali hesitate as the first one approached her with its arms outstretched and it let out a loud groan. She hesitated a bit longer and then Ali launched herself at the infected. 

The machete came down hard on the zombie's head and embedded itself deep inside its skull. The thing dropped like a stone and took Ali's weapon with it. She placed her boot on the infected's head and heaved the blade free with a sick, suctioning sound. After waving the serrated blade around to clear it of the muddy blood, she looked at the other two closing in. Well I wasn't being much help just standing here terrified so I approached the next one. Ali took the one to the left which meant the one to the right was mine. 

I seen the infected's teeth clang together in anticipation as it neared me. It once was a teen girl. Too bad she wasn't wearing a Justin Bieber shirt; maybe I would feel better about this. My blood pumped faster and faster the closer she got and I wrinkled my nose at the smell, which was awful by the way. I opted to not let her get too close so I swiped my leg underneath both of hers and she hit the cement hard. Unfortunately it didn't faze her but it bought me time to kneel and bring my knife down into her left temple. The decaying skull gave way to the sharpened blade extremely easily, her movements ceased and her flailing arms dropped beside her. 

I sat for a few seconds just staring at the aluminium handle sticking out of her skull. I'd just taken out one of the zombies but I felt no better for it, in fact I felt I had the distinct urge to vomit. I breathed through my mouth to avoid the smell and further my need to throw up. Once I composed myself, I wrapped my hands around the hilt and pulled. The blade slipped out of her head slowly at first, then completely dislodged with nasty a wet sound. I took a bunch of steps backwards with the bloody knife still in my hands. I seen Ali motion for me to head back to the truck, the body of the other infected down at her feet. 

"You ok?" She asked, her own voice a little shaky. 

I nodded in response not wanting to say anything. I heard the Dodge hit the meridian and the sound of metal scraping against concrete rang out in the eerie silence. Heather and Whit ran back to the truck panting. 

"We should probably get moving before more come because of the noise."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to get 2 chapters done today. You may notice more mistakes from now on as previously I had the chapters already written, then I re-typed them on here and then read through the chapter before posting. Now i'm just writing straight on here and giving it a quick read through. Also I know nothing about America, I've only been to Florida once. So my knowledge isn't great. My search history right now genuinely consists of "What do American's call..." so again, I apologise for any inaccuracies, trying my best!


	16. Inconvenient Convenience Store

Everyone was tense as we fled down the exit ramp, going faster than we probably should have. Ali handed me a McDonald's napkin she got from the glove compartment to clean off my hunting knife before I put it back in its sheath. I rolled down the back window and tossed out the blood matted napkin, happy to be rid of it. I wish I had brought some hand sanitiser or something; it was like I could feel the zombie germs on me. I noticed Whitney looking at me out of the corner of her eye but she didn't say anything even though I could tell that she wanted to. Instead of confronting her, I opted to stare out the window as the empty street passed by. 

 

Grime and dirt coated the front of the building and any vehicles parked on the road. It was amazing how dirty everything could get once it remained stagnant just for a couple of months. Old flyers and trash had gathered in street corners adding to the abandoned look of the city. The straggling infected were roused by the sound of us passing through, so naturally they came after us. We were going slowly enough that they were able to bang and grope on the side of the truck as we passed. Heather picked up speed causing the ones trying to latch on to be propelled backwards and I could see a couple rolling in our dust.

I could see the red Wal-Mart scrawl in the distance but my visual was cut-off as Heather rounded a corner suddenly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Whit yelled.

"You want those things following us all the way there?" Heather said a bit too loudly back.

Whitney's jaw popped out as she clenched her teeth. We zig-zagged the whole way there and I was starting to get sore from being yanked against the seat belt. I hadn't seen any of the old followers after we rounded that first corner, however we kept running into more which led to more corners and round-abouts. 

"We're just picking up more as we lose the old ones," I pointed out and I heard Heather let out a breath of frustration.

"Maybe get off these main streets and use back alleys," Whit suggested and pointed to the alley opening a few meters ahead. 

Heather turned down the alley only to slam on the breaks. I went flying forward and the safety feature in the belt kicked in and stopped me from hitting the front seat. I think the belt cutting into my chest hurt more than the back of the seat would have. I looked up to see what had caused her to suddenly stop. There was a blockade of infected on the narrow tarmac, who all had their attention focused on us. They started to stumble towards us and Heather hit reverse and we flew back out the alleyway entrance causing the tires to squeal.

 

One of the zombies that had come up to the alley entrance hit the back tailgate and flew backwards and judging from the sound of bones crunching under the tires, I knew it wouldn't be getting back up again. Heather fled back down another road, avoiding the main artery to the supermarket. Somehow we had ended up in a residential area, passing by house after house. Strangely there were not as many infected in the neighbourhoods as I thought there would be. I guess most people opted to go to the shelters than take a chance on their own. Either way, I was glad for it. We had enough on our tail already.

"Alright I think we've gotten away," Whitney said as she peered in the rear view mirror.

"Bout damn time," Heather muttered.

I had to agree, I was getting pretty tired of being yanked around in the backseat.

Heather nodded and started back towards the wal-mart. The houses gave way to businesses as we got out of the residential area and back on the main roads. Whitney pointed out the Chevron station to our right and I guess this would be our first stop on the tour. We hopped out once Heather pulled up beside the last pump, so we could make an easy get away if need be. She lifted up the nozzle only to have the machine remain dead from no power. She slammed it down in anger and ran her hand through her hair. 

"Maybe we should see if we can boot the thing up from the inside?" Whit suggested, pointing to the convenience store which had a garage attached to it.

The rusted sign boasted 'Best oil change prices in town!'

"But there isn't any power, how will we get it to work?" Ali said back.

"Dunno but we might as well go see what's in there. Who knows what we'll find," Whit shrugged.

 

Heather and Whit raised their pistols while Ali opted for her machete. I unbuckled my holster and removed my silenced Beretta, secretly hoping I wouldn't have to use it. Heather motioned for us to stay put as she approached the front door. She stopped right before it and looked around, grabbing a full jug of windshield water fluid. The bell above the door jingled when Heather opened it, then she placed the jug down to hold the door open and took a few steps back.

When nothing emerged right off the bat, Heather whistled rather loudly to attract anything that may be in there. I really hoped we were out of here before anything else around heard that. Heather went rigid and I spotted the figure emerging from the darkened store. I assumed he used to be the mechanic for the attached garage judging from his grease stained overalls. He growled lightly as he stumbled out into the daylight, he looked like he hadn't seen the light for months. He was in decent shape as far as decay went, maybe he was recently infected. 

Heather raised her pistol, which had its own matching silencer, and shot the thing right in the forehead. It fell backwards from the momentum of the bullet and laid still. Whit kicked its leg a couple of times to see if it was actually dead, but it didn't move.

"What kind of name is Mackie?" Whit asked after she stopped kicking it.

I was confused for a second on how Whit knew the things name, but then I seen the sewn on name tag that read 'Mackie'. We waited for another minute to see if anything else followed him out but we were met with only silence. Heather motioned with her head for us to follow her. With her gun at the ready she checked all the corners of the store and shut the 'employee's only' door that was left wide open. The convenience store looked like any other gas station store and we could all see over the shelves, which was to our advantage. Whit went around the counter to see if she could activate the pump somehow but all the electronics remained lifeless. 

"Well let's at least grab what we can," I suggested, opening one of the cooler doors. 

I pulled out all the unopened water bottles that were left and started to stuff them into the chevron plastic bags. The others started to do the same with anything that was non perishable. I wandered over to the small automotive section to find a few car wipes and air freshners but that's not what caught my attention. I found a couple of crow bars and the idea suddenly hit me. 

"Guys, how strong would you say you are?" I grinned at the confused looks on their faces.

"Why?" Ali asked suspiciously.

"We could use these to try to open that manhole thing that has the gas trucks pump the gas into it," I said holding up my find. 

Heather looked like she was considering it. "Well we could try."

We walked back outside carrying our spoils and tossed them into the bed of the truck. I handed one of the crowbars to Ali and the other to Heather. Kneeling down, they positioned the crowbars into the narrow slots in the circular rim. They strained and grunted with all the force they were putting behind it. Just as I was about to curse myself for thinking of this stupid idea the lid shifted up and they moved it to the side. 

"Damn, that was on there good!" Ali huffed.

We all looked down, not knowing what to expect. From our limited view through the hole I could only see a part of the silver tank; the part with the sealed top.

"Great," Heather muttered.

Whit reached down and grabbed the red coloured handle and heaved but the thing refused to budge. Whit rummaged through our bags and produced a wrench to twist off the seal that the handle was attached to. When Whit was finally able to loosen the seal, she tried the handle again which actually turned this time. The tank groaned as the pressure was alleviated and we took a few steps back not sure of what would happen. Whit popped off the top and we retreated even further as the overwhelming smell of gas made our eyes water.

Through watery eyes I said, "See, what did I tell you?"

"Hey, I'm the one bustin' my ass over here," Whit huffed from all her exertion.

"Now how do we get it out?" I asked.

"I bet that garage has some plastic tubes we could use to siphon the gas out," Ali pointed her thumb towards the dingy add-on.

"let's go check it out," Heather motioned to Whit, "you stay here and keep an eye out. Holler if you see a bunch coming"

Whit and I nodded and they ran back into the gas station. I went to the back of the truck and pulled out two water bottles. I tossed one to Whit and took a big drink of my own.

"Thanks," She said before she downed her own drink.

The water was warm but it tasted so much better than the well water that I didn't really care. I spotted them before Whit because her back was turned so she faced me. There were about five or so stumbling infected heading towards our location.

"Whit," I whispered, not wanting to make anymore noise. 

She looked at me, then to where I was looking. She stilled at the sight of them and put down her water bottle gently on the pavement. 

"What should we do?" I asked quietly. 

"We need to take them out to buy more time," Whit said as she pulled out her pistol and silencer. 

With ease, she attached the accessory. I pulled my own weapon back out, only this time I knew I would have to use it.

"Should we try to warn the other two?" I asked glancing back to the store.

There were no sign that Heather or Ali would be emerging soon. 

"No, we have to take care of them now," whit said, "Stay close to me."

 

She took off in a light jog towards the group and I followed right beside her. The group was five in number, a mix of tall, short, young and old. One at a time was manageable but a group would be harder to deal with. I chewed my lip as we approached the group like a couple of gunslingers in an old western movie. I had to take a couple of deep breaths to calm myself and Whit seemed to be doing the same thing. 

"We need to take out the sides of the group instead of shooting in the middle. We have more of a chance to actually hit them that way," Whit said beside me.

She raised her pistol and with a muffled pop, the shot flew into the fray. The east most zombie went down causing another one beside it to stumble over the body and hit the pavement. This left three up. I took my time to aim and fired off a shot only to have it sail through the group without hitting anything. I swore under my breath, knowing the closer I let them get the more nervous I'd become. The next shot I made hit the body cavity of one but it just kept walking.

 

Whit let off another shot which took down the one I had previously hit in the torso. I sent her a glare that said,  _hey that was my one you dick_. She just smirked at me, which made my blood boil and once again I contemplated 'accidentally' shooting someone.  Two of them were close enough that the smell of decay under the high noon sun reached us and I scrunched my nose up at the odour. The one that had tripped earlier managed to get itself upright and was now trailing behind. I gritted my teeth and aimed slightly to the left of where I wanted to hit because I noticed my shots were going to the right of where I wanted them to land.

My third shot rang true and the remnant soccer mom dropped to the cement like a puppet that had their strings cut. I resisted the urge to jump and squeal in triumph and rub it in Whit's face. I looked over at her and she grinned at me. Bastard had somehow turned this into a competition and I fell for it. I shouldn't be rejoicing that I had just killed something or at least re-killed it. Whit looked at the closest one then at the one further away and opted to take the furthest one. It took two shots but she did it.

"This one's all yours," Whit said in a cocky way.

The last one was maybe two car lengths away.

"You're a dick, you know that?" I hissed at her but she just shrugged off my insult. 

I had found its head with only one shot this time, my anger and pride not allowing me to mess up. I put my gun back into its holster and calmly turned to Whit so that I didn't give away my intentions. Her grin was replaced with a grimace when I kicked her in the shin as hard as I could.

"What the hell?" She yelled angrily, as she massaged her shin.

"That's for being a dick!" I yelled back, "Now was not the time for it."

Ali and Heather chose that moment to re-appear. They trotted over to us, not sure of what had just happened. 

"What's going on?" Heather asked as her eyes darted from us to the corpses lying all over the road.

"Your friend is an ass, you know that?" I said to Heather, storming back to the truck.

Heather shot Whit a look of venom and followed me back to the truck.

"What she do?" Heather asked.

I told her what happened.

"so you kicked her in the shin?" Ali asked.

"Yes I did and I hope I did some damage."

Ali chuckled and said, "Well if you ever really want to injure someone go for a throat punch next time."

"will do," I nodded, "You find what you were looking for?"

She held up the black, rubber tubing. "Not quite, but it will do."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, quite a boring chapter but i'm trying to build up to events and build the story rather than rush through it with no detail, so there will be a few boring chapters. Will try my best to update the story twice if I think a chapter is boring like this one, so expect another update before I go to sleep. Starting the next chapter now :)
> 
> Ps. Let me know what you think guys!


	17. Fresh Meat

 

Ali moved the truck closer to the manhole so that we could fill up the tank. Heather had found a couple of empty jerry cans when they were inside and we had brought a few as well. I didn't want to be the one who had to suction the gas out but Whit said she'd do it; you wouldn't find me objecting. She sucked profusely and sputtered when the gas started to flow and quickly shoved it into the empty jerry can. She spat a few times on the ground and swished her water around in her mouth.

"Wow, you're an expert at that," I taunted and the look she gave me made me grin even wider.

Ali burst out laughing and even Heather coughed to cover up her snort of laughter. I felt like I had gotten my revenge, albeit petty revenge, but whatever.

After a few seconds, the gas stopped flowing and we all peered down at it, as if by miracle our staring would make it run again. 

"I didn't think this would work." Heather said running her hand through her hair.

"The tank needs to be higher for this to work properly," Whit pointed out.

"I'll do another look around for something with a hand pump," At that Heather jogged back to the garage for something more useful.

 

The three of us just stood around, not saying a word. Whit and I traded some more squinty eyed looks, while Ali tried not to notice the tense atmosphere. I was about to say something about her rusty sucking skills when Heather emerged from the garage, this time with a device that looked like the bicycle tire pump we had back home; just with two hoses instead of one. 

"This should work much better," Heather announced as she placed one of the hose ends in the jerry can and the other hose running from the pump, into the underground tank.

The handle of the red pump was on the top and reminded me of the detonators in the Looney Tunes cartoons. After using the pump for just over thirty seconds, the gas started to flow again much to our relief. 

In the end we had half a dozen canisters full of gas which would hopefully last us a while. Whit re-closed the tank just in case we needed to come back for more gas in the future. There was still a good amount left; we could come back here when we got low again. We made sure the pump was placed securely inside the truck so we didn't lose it.

 

After placing the cans into the back we reconvened in the truck. Whit and I refused to acknowledge one another as we shared the back seat. We weren't too far from Wal-Mart and the main street only had a few infected roaming. The rest seemed to have disappeared for the moment which was a relief and worrying all at the same time.

 

The massive parking lot was abandoned except for a few cars neatly parked in a spot and a few tripped over carts. I'd say the place looked to be in pretty good shape but I suppose looks can be deceiving. Heather pulled up to the front door and killed the engine. We scoped out the place before we got out the truck. There were three infected that were using the parking lot as their own personal walking track but as soon as we had pulled up they started towards the noise.

I unloaded my clip to see how many bullets I had left; I counted seven. We clambered out of the truck to confront the three but Heather shot them in a quick succession before we had the chance to lift our weapons up. Luckily she was still using her silencer; she wouldn't risk shooting out here without one. 

 

I walked up to the front doors and peeked inside. Since the power had been out for quite some time, it was no surprise that the doors didn't part for me as I approached. The light from outside barely shone into the cart lobby and I had to wipe away some of the dirt caked onto the glass doors just to see inside better. From what I could see, there was no one nearby and the second set of automatic doors were wide open, unlike the set I was currently peaking in. 

"Come on and help me pry these open," I said, hoping they weren't dead-bolted.

I stuck my fingers into the little slots where the doors met and with Ali grabbing the other side, we heaved. Slowly the doors started to part for us as squealing at the sudden use after being neglected for so long. If the doors weren't locked that meant anything could be in here. We gave the parking lot one last look to make sure it was void of infected and with our bags in hand, we re-closed the glass sliding doors behind us. 

Once inside, we flipped the dead bolts which only required a key to get in, not to lock up from the inside. Then we did the same for the second set of doors. 

"Should we be locking ourselves in without checking the place out first?" I asked.

"Well if anything is in here, it would be even worse if anything outside got in too," Heather pointed out, "At least the front is secure."

"well, for all we know the back door could be wide open," Ali mentioned.

"Good point." Heather said as she took her gun from her holster, "let's check the perimeter first."

I slid my backpack on and pulled out my Beretta.

"You and Ali check the emergency exits and doors around the floor. Whit and I will check the back," Heather dictated.

"Splitting us up? that's horror movie talk," I said nervously.

"We need to get this place locked down as soon as possible," Heather insisted. "Which means we need to cover as much ground as quick as possible."

 

We all rummaged around in our bags for our flashlights and clicked them on. The sunlight that was coming through the front doors only shone so far. I pointed my beam all around to see if I could spot anything but the immediate area seemed to be clear of infected. The smell of rotting food hung in the stale air but if you breathed through your mouth it wasn't so bad. The grocery section took up the left side of the store while the non-food items took up the rest of the supermarket.

The store didn't seem to be in as bad a shape as I thought it would be. There were carts here and there and some of the shelves were picked over but that wasn't out of the ordinary for this store. Heather and Whit took off down the middle aisle towards the back while Ali and I decided to start along the left wall and make our way around.

 

I made sure I was breathing through my mouth as the stench of rotten food got stronger. The produce section had created its own compost heap so we pretty much ran past that part. The first door we spotted was the one that lead to the back room but Heather and Whit had that section, which apparently ran around the whole building in a U-shape. I pointed my flashlight along the wall while Ali pointed hers ahead. 

"Ali," I whispered as I spotted the first emergency exit.

It was closed; I could only see the light from the outside trying to peak in through the bottom. Ali wiggled the bar shaped handle to make sure it wouldn't swing open easily. Once we were satisfied that it wouldn't open from the outside, we continued on. At the thorough pace we were going, it took us close to an hour just to check the perimeter. We had made it all the way back to the entrance part which only left the washrooms and the janitors closet; at least that's what I assumed it was.

 

We rounded the corner of the women's washroom. Ali stepped in first to make sure nothing was hiding in the darken space. The sound of the creaking hinges rang out in the small space as Ali pushed open all the doors one by one. I heard footsteps behind me and I whirled around to see the half eaten face of a former employee. His blue vest was ripped and stained dark red. His decayed skin had taken on the same colour as his dirty vest. With a growl he launched himself at me, knocking the both of us to the floor.

I focused all my energy on keeping his snapping teeth away from me. The thing was relentless with his snarling and snapping. I turned my head to avoid the dribbling blood and saliva that the thing was spraying with every attempt to bite me. I was about to yell for help when the body was ripped from me and flung across the floor, its arms flailing. Before the zombie could get back up, Ali stomped down hard on its head. The decayed skull gave way fairly easily to the pressure of her foot and soon a pulpy mess covered the white floor and walls.

"you ok?" Ali ran back over to me and heaved me up.

I gave myself a once over and nodded,"yeah, I managed to keep him from biting me."

I was shaking slightly from the adrenaline and fear. For a second I thought I might throw up. The nasty, rotting smell didn't help with that either.

"You gonna be ok to keep going?" Ali asked, seeing that I was slightly shaken.

"I'll be fine," I said curtly and she let it go.

We stepped over the mess and checked the rest of the front area. So far the peeping tom infected was the only thing we had run into.

"should we go look for them?" I asked, "They're taking a long time."

"Let's head down the middle aisles on the way then." Ali said. 

 

We passed by more empty lanes on our way to the back of the store. The growling was the first sign that we weren't alone in the centre. I shone my flashlight in the direction of the sound which in hindsight wasn't a good idea. The infected's attention was now honed in on us and we took a few steps back. Ali whipped out her machete as the thing started toward us. 

"Down here," I said, pointing my light to one of the home accent aisles.

Ali nodded and we bolted towards the land of bathroom mats. The infected chased us but I suppose it couldn't see too well; it ran straight into the massive display of frying pans that was plunked down in the main throughway. The display was knocked over and the crashing noise was so loud I cringed. That would surely attract anything that was lurking in here. 

"Shit," I heard Ali hiss behind me.

The flashlight bounced all around in front of me as we ran, making it hard to keep a steady eye on anything. 

"Turn back," I yelled at Ali as I stopped dead in my tracks.

A handful of infected had managed to cut us off. Their mangled bodies created a blockade at the end of the aisle. Ali yanked me back towards the way we had come with the six on our trail forcing us to keep moving. The first zombie that had caused the noise was still trying to get itself untangled from the display, making more noise in the process. As we ran past its reaching hands, Ali brought down her machete on the things head. One swing was all it took and it stopped moving. Ripping the weapon from the things skull, we ran even faster away from the approaching crowd.

It seemed like we had gathered the attention of every infected that was in here; somehow we hadn't run into them during our perimeter check. They must have been hiding in the aisles.

"Maybe we can try to lose them," Ali grabbed my hand and pulled me towards another aisle.

We weaved through all the aisles, trying to lose the ones following us. I hoped this worked as wee as it did in the truck. Finally, we had made it to the back of the store but I could still hear the mass of infected approaching somewhere in the aisles near us. They hadn't wandered off like I hoped they had. Having been trapped in here, they probably haven't come across fresh meat in a while and that thought made me grimace. The shuffling and groaning was getting louder by the second. 

I looked over at Ali, who had the exact same look of desperation plastered on her face as I did. Our eyes darted back and forth until we simultaneously spotted the set of scuffed plastic swinging doors that lead to the back room. Neither of us had to say anything as we bolted straight for them.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, looks like they're in a bit of trouble. What do you think will happen? is this the end?  
> leave comments with your thoughts :)


	18. Fight for your dinner

We crashed through the doors like a couple of battering rams. I felt Ali's hand grab my arm and yank me to the left, just as I started to contemplate which direction we should go. The narrow back room was lined with jam-packed shelves as high as the warehouse ceiling which made it difficult to run in. I heard the sound of the plastic doors swinging open again as the mini-horde pursued us.

"Get behind me! A familiar voice rang out.

We spotted Heather just around the west corner. Once we were clear of her line of fire, she raised her gun to eye level as the infected approached in a crowded mass. The narrow back ways made it difficult for them to all pass through. Muffled shots came from Heather's raised weapon and soon a blockade of dead infected clogged the passage.

"did you alert every one of those things in the store?" Heather asked us as she reloaded her gun.

"They were hiding in the aisles," Ali said indignantly.

"Where's Whit?" I asked, noticing it was just Heather with us.

"Unloading some of the pallets we found. Come on, i'll show you."

So we followed her around to the other side of the backroom. Whit was slicing up one of the shrink-wrapped skids of product with a Xacto knife.

"Found a whole bunch of protein bars," Whit beamed at her find. "Should last us a good while too."

"Now that we made sure the back is clear, we should move the truck around here to load this stuff in," Heather suggested.

"Well i'm sure as hell not lugging it all out the front door," I said as I eyed our year supply of protein bars.

 

Ali and I headed back into the main part of the store, a lot more alert this time. We stuck close to the outer walls just in case there were more lurking inside the aisles. Luckily we made it all the way back out and to the truck with no more infected but I'm sure there was some left inside, we would just have to stay on our toes.

 

The massive steel loading door squealed as Heather and Whit tried to open it. There was a manual pulley system that required two people to tug on the rusted silver chains just to lift it a little. Ali backed the truck right up against the loading dock, which was about three feet higher than the bed of the pickup. Together we tossed the protein bar cases in the back in a matter of minutes.

"We also found a flat of water and some dried goods we can use," Whit huffed as she lifted the wooden pallet outside and out of the way.

We kept a wary eye on the back lot just in case some roaming infected decided to stop by. There was just one out there so Ali jumped from the dock and took the thing out with her machete, leaving a nasty stain on the tarmac. She grimaced at the mess that now coated her weapon and she flung it to the side to dislodge the decaying matter.

"we're here, we might as well grab all that we can." I shrugged.

I desperately needed new clothes and hygiene products. You would be surprised how rough living out in the sticks and washing on a scrub board, like a house wife from the 1800s, can be on your clothes. Plus we needed deodorant and trust me that was a necessity not a luxury. Heather glanced down at her watch.

"We don't have many daylight hours left. Maybe we should make camp here?"

A supermarket and now a hotel chain? Wal-Mart really did have everything. Ali looked around nervously,

"This was supposed to only be a day trip. I don't want the others to be worried,"

"I'd rather spend the night sheltered than chance driving around in the dark. There aren't streetlights anymore," Heather reasoned.

She had a point. If anything happened while we tried to get back in the dark we would be even more screwed than normal.

"looks like i'm out numbered," Ali sighed and looked away guiltily.

Normally I would always take her side but not this time. 

"Alright then, let's finish loading what we can back here."

 

Between the four of us we managed to almost completely fill the truck bed with food products. Looks like any extra supplies would be crammed with us in the seats. Heather re-closed the roll-up door while whit and Ali stood underneath to gently place it on the ground. the last thing we needed was a big crash to alert even more infected to our whereabouts.

"Everyone got an idea of what they want?" Heather said just before we pushed open the swinging doors.

We all nodded.

"There can't be that many more of them in here," Ali said, pointing to the mass of bodies that piled up where Heather shot them, "So do you each want to take a section?"

I tried not to let my concern show on my face but I wasn't happy with being sent on my own. We walked out onto the main floor, no infected or even a sound greeted us.

"Alright, Ali and I will split up the grocery section, Whit you take the camping supplies and Ash you take the pharmacy area," Heather mapped out for us. "Grab what you can and bring it back here so we can load it up all at once."

As we were about to take off, Ali stopped me and whispered quietly. 

"If you get in trouble just yell, and i'll be right there."

I was going to point out that the food and pharmacy sections were on opposite sides of the store but instead I just nodded. 

"Won't be a problem."

 

I took a deep breath through my nose and clicked on my flashlight. All I could hear was the blood pumping in my ears and the sound of my feet quietly hitting the cold ground. I stuck with the main aisles to get to the other side. This way, I had a larger view path so nothing could appear right beside me. I calmed my breathing so that I could better listen for the sounds of infected. Looking to my right and left rapidly was starting to make me dizzy so I opted for just looking straight ahead. I shone my light onto the wall and seen the giant red pharmacy sign, like a lighthouse beacon.

I realised I hadn't brought anything to carry all the supplies in other than the backpack currently resting on my back. Shit. I walked up and down the aisle and spotted an abandoned cart; I placed my flashlight down and holstered my gun so I could take the items out. Looks like someone had grabbed all the toys they could but never made it to the register with them. I shoved the boxes onto the empty spots on the shelf closest to me. I had a bad habit of doing that even before the breakout. 

 

My head whipped to the sound of something hitting the floor a few aisles over. I held my breath and started towards the noise, one of the toys still in my hand. As I gingerly rounded the corner I first spotted the light purple mess that coated the floor. The smell of chemicals and lilac perfume hung in the air. A bottle of shampoo must have fallen but what could have caused that? I squinted further into the aisle but no one was there. 

I went rigid at the gargling sound one aisle over. I swallowed and tip-toed to the front of the aisle. The infected was about halfway down the aisle. It was once a teenage boy, his body now ravaged by the disease. His clothes were in tatters and he was missing a few fingers; it almost looked like they had been gnawed off. His head was whipping around in the air and if I wasn't mistaken it looked like he was sniffing. All I could smell was the cheap perfume of the spilled shampoo, maybe that obscured my smell and that's why he wasn't charging at me.

Well if i was going to do something about him, it would be better if it was on my own terms. I brought my arm back and threw the toy with as much power as I could muster while throwing the awkward shaped box. it hit the infected square in the back and he turned around at the impact. The infected looked down at the toy as it hit the floor, confusion showing in its jerky body movements. I couldn't believe what I was about to do.

I ran as fast as I could towards the infected, slipping my hunting knife from its holster on my belt. Before it could even register that something was moving in front of it, I sunk my blade into the part where the head meets the neck at a slight upwards angle. 

I had to grab the thing by the shoulder to gain leverage and when the blade hit home; the infected tumbled backwards taking me with it. I rolled to the side instinctively to avoid landing on it, then turned right back towards it. The infected was laying still, the blade protruding from its neck. I counted to ten before investigating. I got up and kicked it with my foot and when it didn't react I went to grab the knife back, It slipped out the boys neck easily, leaving an open wound behind. The smell was awful and now coated my knife so I used the infected's wrecked shirt to clean off my blade. 

 

I stared at the un-moving infected. I hadn't realised my heart was pounding and I had to crouch over to catch my breath. The adrenaline was starting to dissipate, leaving me a bit shaky. I had barely taken time to think my plan through. All the images of what could've gone wrong played through my head, mocking my impulsive choice. I was lucky it had worked out this time, but would it again? Slowly, I walked back to my flashlight and cart, the smell of decay and lilacs mingling in the air.

 

A feeling akin to triumph, like when I used to play soccer as a kid and scored, bloomed within me. I found this confusing. On one hand I should be upset but on the other hand it was either me or the infected and like any other human, I chose myself. I looked down at the blade in my hand and scowled as I put the knife away.

I grabbed what I felt we needed, dropping a few items in the process thanks to my shaky hands, but soon my cart was almost over flowing. We really should have brought another vehicle. Not that Heather's 'drive to town' car as she called it, would hold much more. The cart wheels squeaked a bit until I got a steady pace going as I pushed the cart into the back. The rush of taking out the infected had finally worn off and my hands were steady once again. For a second, I pretended I was back home shopping, mentally trying to tally up the bill in my head and failing.

"Geez, you got enough stuff?" Whit asked as I approached her.

She had some small propane cylinder and other various camping supplies lying by her feet. She must have made quite a few trips.

"I could say the same to you, are the others done?"

"Heather is, She's stacking the stuff by the back door. Dunno about Ali though."

"Alright well let Heather know i'm done and I will go grab Ali."

I left my cart in the care of Whit and went off in the search for Ali. I found her in the granola bar aisle tossing boxes in her cart.

"What do you think of the bars with the fruit jam in the middle?" She asked, hearing me approach. 

"That they were invented by people who knew nothing about kids."

She placed the box back on the shelf. I almost squealed like a fan-girl when I spotted the blue box and shoved all three into her cart. Ali raised an eyebrow at me in question. 

"Frosted strawberry pop-tarts." I grinned at the find. "I love those!"

"Well we do have a toaster back at the cabin."

"Hell, toaster or not i'm eating them."

"Everything go ok in the pharmacy?"

I hesitated and Ali stared me down,

"What happened?"

"There was an infected but I took him out." I shrugged, playing it off like it wasn't a big deal.

Ali's mouth formed a mulish line, "I told you to call out if you ran into anything."

"What was I supposed to do? Run around the aisle like a hysterical woman until big brave Ali came to save me?" I glared in response.

We stayed like that for a few seconds before Ali cracked a grin and laughed.

"It's not funny," I muttered. 

"Sorry, I just got this image of you running around in an old fashion dress yelling Lord save me," Ali said through her laughter.

"That would mean I will have officially lost it," I grinned at the image she painted.

"You two done telling jokes?" Heather asked as she rounded the corner.

With Heather prodding us along, we managed to grab what we wanted and brought it to the back, I looked at our haul. It looked like a giant mound at the garbage dump minus the smell of course. I felt like I was in an episode of hoarders.

"Look, i'm no engineer but how is all that supposed to fit in the truck?" I asked sceptically. 

"Dunno but it's gonna be mighty squished in there, maybe we can grab another vehicle nearby." Heather replied.

"There were a few in the parking lot," Ali suggested.

"Do you know how to hotwire one?" I asked Heather and she smirked at that.

"Well I may have had the need to a few times in my life but the chances are the cars out there are alarmed so we can't afford to have them go off, even for a moment."

"Maybe the keys are still here?" I opted and the three looked at me strange. "I mean the cars probably belong to the employees we found in here. We could search the employee lounge and their pockets."

"Quick thinking," Whit nodded in approval.

I knew all that education would come in handy one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify, yes there will be some Ash and Ali stuff but considering it's a zombie apocalypse don't expect too much, it's building up to it. They're fighting for their lives at the moment, a little too pre-occupied for love.


	19. Never grow up

We dug through pockets of the dead infected in the back, managing to find four sets of keys for the cars outside, who knows. I jogged back to the one I had downed in the pharmacy. It was still lying where it dropped and I rummaged through its disgusting pants pockets. I almost threw up, managing to only gag at the nasty substance that covered my hand but at least I got a set of keys for my trouble. I copied what I did earlier and wiped my hand on the infected's shirt. 

Then I remembered what area I was in and headed off to find the baby wipes and antibacterial gel. A handful of wipes later, I finally got my hands clean but I still itched to wash them with soap and water. If I was lucky maybe the sinks in the washroom would still work; however, that was just wishful thinking on my end. All the power had stopped and therefore, so did running water, unless a place had its own isolated system like the cabin. I doubt Wal-Mart fell under that category.

 

I met the others at the door that said employees only so we could check for keys. Heather pushed it open to reveal a set of metal stairs leading to the top office area. With our flashlights in hand, we ascended the stairs. At the top was a long hallway with windows to the outside on the left and cork boards, lockers and doors to the right. We followed Heather as she slowly made her way down the walkway. the few offices that were up here had the doors open and were empty of people or infected.

The last door on the right was closed and had one of those frosted windows on the upper half reading 'loss prevention'. Heather's hand went to open the door when a figure on the other side slammed itself against it. We all jumped back in shock as the thing snarled and slammed repeatedly against the door trying to get at us. Blood and spittle coated the inside of the glass as the door continued to rattle from the impact. I could see the outline of the nasty figure through the frosted glass and I knew what Heather was going to do.

"Cover your eyes" She barked, lifting her handgun.

I placed my arm over my eyes as she shot through the glass. The only sound I heard was the glass hitting the floor along with the thump of the body. Heather peaked in,

"It's clear, I think."

Heather motioned for Whit to open the door while she stood at the ready with her gun in case anything tried to charge out. The door opened and the fading sunlight coming through the windows showed us the infected sprawled out on the ground not moving. Behind it, was, well a mess. A chewed up corpse was spread all over the back part of the office. I grimaced at the sight of half eaten intestines and the hollowed out chest cavity. The smell was beyond anything I had smelt before and I fought the urge to vomit. The head was still intact and to my dismay, started to stir. Its teeth clanged as it snapped its teeth, defying all the laws of nature.

"That is disgusting," Ali paled at the sight. 

Heather lifted up her knife from her belt and brought it down into the left eye socket. The head stopped moving and we all looked at each-other searching for answers we knew none of us had.

 

We checked the open lockers for keys and the pockets of the coats hanging on the hooks beside the lockers. Coming up here was a bust. We didn't end up finding anything useful so we headed back downstairs. 

"should we try out the keys now or tomorrow morning?" I asked. 

"I think we should try get as much done tonight as possible," Ali answered. 

Heather nodded, "We've got maybe an hour of sunlight left so we should get to it then."

The setting sun shone through the murky doors as we approached the front. We opened the set of doors and peered out into the parking lot. Nothing had changed. The cars were still parked in their spots and the fallen infected from earlier were where we left them.

"Pssst," Whit hissed and we all looked to where she was pointing. 

A couple of infected were starting to walk over from the parking lot of the stores next to us. Heather handed me the keys she was holding. 

"You and Ali go try these while Whit and I take those lurkers out."

I nodded and started off towards the beaten up Chevy Cavalier with way too many bumper stickers on it. Two of the sets of keys had the Chevy symbol on them so I tried those first. But neither one opened the door. We jogged through the parking lot, zig-zagging to all the other vehicles. I looked up to see Heather and Whit use their melee weapons on the first two infected they encountered. 

When it looked like we were shit out of luck, we finally got a key to work. It was for the old mini-van with the cliche family member decals on the back window. I jammed the key into the ignition and the engine sputtered a few times, due to it sitting here for so long, but it roared to life after a few seconds. The fan belt squealed a bit and I grimaced.

"Figures," Ali muttered. "pop the hood."

I pulled the lever and the hood unlatched. Ali looked but couldn't really do anything without tools. The sound stopped and I looked at her,

"did you do that?"

"No, must have just needed to work the kinks out."

She slammed down the hood as gently as she could and hopped into the passenger seat.

"I feel ridiculous driving this thing," I muttered.

"Hey, at least it has lots of space."

"Spoken like a true soccer mum." I joked. 

We pulled up to Heather and Whit who were making their way to us. 

"A van? Really?"  Whit tsked as she opened the sliding door. 

"Good find," Heather said as she joined Whit in the back. 

 

I dropped them off at the front doors and headed around the back to meet them at the roll-up door. The truck was still blocking the loading bay, so Ali jumped out to move the overstuffed truck. Once I backed into the bay, I killed the engine not wanting to waste any gas. The red needle was currently sitting at slightly over half a tank. Ali parked the truck right beside the van and hopped out, so I did the same. The sun was setting on the front of the large building. Leaving a large shadow to eclipse us in darkness. 

"Maybe we should wait in the van?" I suggested not liking being out here in the open. 

"Sure we'll be fine, Heather will be quick about it." 

As if on cue, the metal door started to rattle and Ali shot me a look that said, see? I opened the back door to the van and shoved down the folding seat for more room. I would never say it out loud, but it was kind of handy. We threw in all the stuff as fast as we could and there was even a bit of room to spare, hopefully for clothes. After closing all the doors, we moved back out into the store.

"Well, how should we set up camp here?" Whit asked. 

"We could start with the furniture aisle. I think I saw a futon display," I mentioned. 

 

The aisle in question had office furniture, but there was a set up futon that we could steal the mattress from and the boxed up sets underneath. We found three in total which meant someone had to double up, which was a pretty decent trade off in my books. Whit came back with four sleeping bags and camping pillows in a cart and we started to move out the other furniture boxes to create a wall around us just in case. After a bit, we had quite the fort going on. Now all we needed were more sheets as a makeshift roof to finish off the look. 

"We need some food," Heather said as she headed off to find us some snacks. 

"While she's doing that, I'm going to try find some clothes," I said, heading off towards the middle. 

"Yeah, I could use some too," Ali said, pushing off our fort wall.

 

We kept a stern eye out as we made our way to the clothes section in the middle. The department was out in the open with no walls to block it off so the infected could come in any direction. I headed straight to the t-shirt section and started to stuff my backpack, then moved onto shorts. I didn't think I would ever have use for pants here due to the southern heat. I wandered to the underwear section while Ali was picking out some clothes for herself. 

Hand washing everything on a scrub board actually seemed like it was harder on your clothes than the regular spin cycle on a washing machine. So basically, I really needed to replace everything I had with me. We had left our suitcases behind at the school emergency shelter when it was overrun; leaving me with just the clothes I was wearing and the ones in my backpack.

"Ya done yet?" Ali asked

"What do you think? The blue or the purple pair?" I held up the lacy underwear I was holding.

Ali spluttered and turned a tad red while shaking her head. "I'll be right over there." She made a quick retreat back to her section.

I grinned at my joke as I stuffed underwear into my bag. I grabbed some for the others back at the cabin as well. Once I was done I found Ali in the little girls section which I found weird. 

"Thought I'd get Tobin some girly kids clothes as a joke, since she acts like a child" Ali said before I could even question her.

"You should only get her pink things," I smirked

"She will kill us."

"Tobin promised me to bring her back something good, any ideas?" I asked. 

Ali grinned, "She asked me to do the exact same thing."

"Sneaky! probably got Heather and Whit doing it too."

"Screw it, we will pick up some chocolate bars for her, i'm going to get her kids toys as well, up for it?"

With our backpacks full we moved onto the kids section. Our weapons were at the ready as we passed all the aisles, not sure if anything was lurking in them. I was beginning to prefer my knife because you didn't have to be a good shot to use it. My aim was drastically improving, but it wasn't perfect; nothing like the end of the world to force you to learn. 

Was this the apocalypse? The end of civilisation as we know it? There was no way of telling until we seen more of the world other than the southern U.S.A. I thought about my family more and more as the last two months passed by. I wondered if they were still alive, if things were as bad in Florida as it was here. 

"don't you find it odd that we haven't seen another person all this time?" I asked Ali.

She was caught a little off guard by the question and took a few seconds to think about it, "Well, we have been hold up at the cabin for most of it."

"True, but how about today? How come we didn't cross another human?" 

"Maybe there aren't any left?"

I gave her a look, "There has to be. Hell, if I survived this long then others more qualified should have."

"You do happen to be with a group of highly functional people," Ali grinned. 

"I still feel like there should be others out there."

"They're probably holed up somewhere like we used to be."

"Do you think we could find a radio for communicating?" I wondered out loud.

"Possibly, we just wont find it here."

"What about at the police station in Gretna Heather was talking about?"

Ali ran her hand through her hair. I noticed she did that a lot when she was struggling with what to say. 

"Maybe, but we should definitely head back first."

"I know you're worried about leaving the others for this long, but we're already halfway there." I reasoned. 

"I know, but the others are our responsibility as well,  We're like a family now." Ali said rather angrily.

I was kind of taken back because she rarely got like that. I knew if I said anything back, a fight would just ensue so I held my tongue. Turning my attention to the aisles, I started to look for something to bring back to Tobin. 

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to get all upset. It's just that i'm scared to lose you guys and we've been away too long as it is."

I nodded in response, acknowledging her apology. Looks like I had finally found what to bring Tobin back. It was a make your own bookmark set, filled with everything she would need. I stuffed it into my already over-filled backpack.

"Good choice," Ali nodded in approval. 

"What did you find?"

"High school barbie." Ali said with a smirk 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, 2 chapters since they were boring. Let me know what you all think of the story so far!


	20. Rude Awakening

We headed back to our fort, which would make any kid proud, only to be grilled by Whit.

"Why were you looking at toys?" She asked. 

"None of your business, that's why." I retorted and I saw her left eye twitch.

"Tobin asked you to bring her something back, didn't she?" Heather grinned around the pepperoni stick she was eating.

"We figured she got to you two as well," Ali laughed. 

"Yup, she asked me for some Oreo's so I packed a few boxes for her," Heather grinned

"So y'all find what you needed?" Whit asked.

"Think so." I plopped down on one of the futon mattresses.

It was comfier than the cot bed back at the cabin, which was rather sad.

"We were just discussing the plan for tomorrow," Whit sat down on the mattress opposite me.

"We were talking about that too," I replied, "I think we should still go to Gretna for their police station. Maybe we can get a transmission radio there,"

"I was thinking the same thing. Maybe start looking for other survivors." Heather nodded.

"I think we should go back," Ali added. "look how much stuff we got, and the police station isn't going anywhere."

"But we're only like an hour from Gretna," Whit pointed out.

Ali clenched her jaw, frustrated that again she was going to lose out.

"You could take one of the vehicles back," I suggested.

Without hesitation, Heather quickly retorted, "No, we should stick together."

"I don't like leaving the others this long." Ali gritted.

"I understand that Ali, but we're so close that we can't pass this up," Heather said calmly, "And we could sure use the ammo, unless you want to make another long trip back to my store."

Ali glared off into the distance, then got up and walked off. I guess she needed some time to cool off.

"I'm sure she will come round," Heather said as we watched her walk away.

"So, would we be back at the cabin by tomorrow night? If we go to Gretna that is." I asked 

"Easily. Gretna is only an hour away give or take," Whit answered.

"Might be longer depending on if we run into trouble or not," Heather added. "But if we leave bright and early tomorrow, I don't see why not."

"Do you think there are other survivors out there?" I asked them both.

Heather grinned at the thought, "there has to be, We don't have a military for nothing."

"Then how come we haven't seen any military presence? Not even an armoured vehicle on the interstate?"

"Maybe we just haven't gone far enough. This country is filled with people who were in the military; chances are they're hunkered down waiting out the storm too."

"Plus we don't even know if this is global or not," Whit piped up.

"True, but I haven't seen any planes in over two months. So even if they are untouched by this plague elsewhere, they sure as hell haven't come to lend a hand," I pointed out.

"let's leave the, _are we alone_ debate until another time kids. We have more immediate concerns," Heather butted in

 

We decided that we would leave at first light for the Gretna police station. If the journey became too much, then we would turn right around and head back to the cabin. When Whit and Heather began discussing firearms, I started to zone out. I've taken all the gun talk I can over these last few months. I'd like to think I have become rather proficient in my knowledge of them, which I suppose was a necessity now. Ali still hadn't shown up by the time they started talking about high calibre rounds, so I slipped away with a nod to find her.

Ali headed off towards the left side of the store, so I started that way. With my knife in hand, I looked around for signs of her. I caught the faint sound of rustling, like metal on a rack, and quietly followed the noise. The aisle marker flashed sports goods when I shone my flashlight over the sign. I found Ali comparing two different fishing rods.

"You fish too?" I approached her. 

"Yeah, so which one do you think?" She held them up for me to inspect, knowing full well I knew nothing of fishing. The name of one caught my eye.

"The black one labelled The Ugly Stick; at least you can hit someone with it and get a few jokes out of it." I joked

"I'm taking the van back tomorrow." Ali looked me in the eye.

"But Heather-"

"Who made Heather the leader?" Ali cut me off. "We sure as hell didn't have a vote."

"She's not our leader," I frowned at the term because in a way, Heather kind of has taken charge.

"Really, so that's why she's the one calling the shots?" Ali was starting to get louder.

"Look, I know you're upset that we're not heading right back to the cabin, but we have come this far already," I used the most calm tone I could manage, hoping that Ali would stop her fit.

"Why are you taking their side?" She looked at me, like I was betraying her.

"It's not a matter of sides you idiot, we're all in this together. By getting a radio and maybe even a police scanner, we might be able to locate other people; don't you want that too?"

Anger was starting to slip into my voice. I just didn't understand how Ali, who had always managed to see reason before, was so opposed to adding an extra couple of hours to our trip for such a worthy cause. My hand clenched around the handle of my knife in frustration. 

"Of course I do, but I hate to leave my family back there, that's what they are now. Family"

I opened my mouth to reply but Heather cut me off as she appeared around the corner. 

"What in God's name are y'all hollering about?"

"Ali is taking the van back tomorrow while we go to the police station."

Heather looked over at Ali's angry face and sighed.

"This is a free country so I aint going to stop you, but think of how much we need you out here."

"They need me back there."

"They're held up safely in the cabin together. We're out here in the middle of nowhere, full of infected and no idea of what else is out there; we could use you more."

Ali yanked her hand through her hair, "Fine, but we get in and out. No more side trips. No more stalling."

"That's more than fair. Now come on we need our sleep."

 

We trudged back to our home base in silence. I was mad that Ali kept freaking out and somehow, I managed to be the recipient of it. I refused to acknowledge her the whole way back and even as we settled down on our futon mattresses for the night. Heather had managed to get Ali to see reason, where I failed. This kind of pissed me off, since Ali was only moments ago complaining about Heather. 

 

The next morning came too fast. I felt like I had been run over by a bus, having been up most of the night tossing and turning, as my thoughts drifted towards my family. My throat constricted at the thought of never seeing them again. As much as I complained about them, I still loved my family. Up until now, I had never lost anyone I was close too. Wondering if they were dead, created panic in me that had my heart racing all night long.

I dumped some water into the washroom sink and washed my face, waking me up a little bit. I stared into the messy mirror. My appearance hand't really changed; my blonde hair was slightly longer and my slightly pale skin had been replaced with a slight tan. I laughed at myself in the mirror, unsure of why I was even laughing. 

There was nothing funny about this situation; it was the polar opposite of funny, hell, I even missed my job. What I missed was regular life, the way you could go to the grocery store without a weapon.

 

I finished washing my face, feeling a bit back to my normal self. When I left the woman's washroom, I had to pass near the front doors to get back to our fort. The sound of banging caught my attention and I dropped my bathroom stuff as I whirled around at the sound. The morning light was blocked off by a barricade of bodies pounding at the glass doors. Shit! I scooped up my stuff, running like the devil was on my heels. I rounded the furniture aisle corner and ran face first into Whit, who went flying back.

"What the hell, Ash!" She demanded, as she rubbed her face.

"There's a whole bunch of infected crowded at the front door," I said in a rush, my eyes darting between everyone. 

Heather hopped up instantly, and we ran back to the entrance with our weapons in hand. The crowd was still banging on the glass doors insistently.

"They must have heard us drive here and all that noise we made yesterday," Heather gritted. "We need to get a bird's eye view of how many are out there."

"I saw a ladder and a roof hatch in the back," Whit mentioned. 

Heather nodded, "alright, Ali and Ash, you stay here and keep an eye on this bunch. Whit and I will go to the roof to see just how many are out there and see if our escape route in the back loading area is blocked off."

 

Before we had the chance to answer, they took off towards the back, leaving Ali and my terrified self to keep watch on the front doors. We stood there, powerless, unable to do anything about what was going to happen. The sound of the glass starting to crack reached my ears, and that's when I noticed the snake like fissures slithering over the first set of doors.

"All that pressure is going to shatter the doors," I took a step back.

"We still have the second set to hold them off" Ali offered.

As soon as the words left her mouth, two panes of glass exploded in a mess of glass on the floor. Then the horde poured into the cart lobby, only to be met by the second set of doors. Their grabbing hands banged and their teeth scrapped along the glass, smears of blood and other substances started to coat the inside of the doors. It was hard to see at this point, but it looked like the lobby was full to the brim of infected, like a mosh pit of rabid teen girls at a One Direction concert. The pushing of the crowd was starting to make the doors groan with the increased force.

"I really don't think us standing here is doing much good," I pointed out; I was starting to sweat from the mixture of heat and fear.

"There's nothing we can do, unless we want to go down with the first wave. Screw Heather, we're not waiting here, let's go." Ali grabbed my arm and we ran back to our camp.

We hoisted our backpacks on and grabbed Heather and Whit's bags. Even though we were in the middle of the store, we still heard the sound of the second set of doors giving way to the horde in a spectacular crash. I looked at Ali, my eyes wide. I had never seen so many infected all at once, not even when we were still in the city. No horde compared to this one, there must have been at least fifty of them and they had just been released into the store. Ali used her head to nod towards the back and we sprinted to the swinging doors. 

"Did you see that ladder Whit was talking about?" I asked; panic making it hard to think. 

There was no sign of either Heather or Whit or even the roof hatch she was talking about. For a brief second, the uncharitable thought that they had left us for bait while they escaped crossed my mind. Our heads whipped up towards the ceiling as the unmistakable sound of gun fire erupted. They must have been trying to shoot the infected from the roof.

"Those idiots! The sound will just draw more in!" Ali yelled angrily.

She looked like she could punch someone at any moment, while I started to cease up, unsure of what to do. We had maybe a couple of minutes before the infected spread out in the store and who knows how long until they reached back here. I looked around wildly, searching for any kind of answer. The ray of sunlight that was shining down caught my frazzled attention; there stood the brightly painted yellow ladder Whit must have been talking about. Illuminated from the sun leaking through the roof hatch. My fingers dug into Ali's arm and she jerked at the pain. I pointed towards the ladder and a small smile flashed across her face.

 

We threw down their bags and our own, I don't think we would make it through that hole wearing a giant backpack. I wasn't a fan of heights, but I didn't see much of a choice in the matter. The metal rungs were cold on my palms as I ascended the ladder, with Ali right behind me. I grabbed onto the top and hoisted myself onto the roof. I noticed the rusty, metallic smell clinging to my hands and I wiped them on my shorts. Heather and Whit were on the south side of the building shooting. 

"Hey!"

They turned to me, confused that I was up there. I ran to the side and peered over. Our vehicles were unharmed, but there was quite a few roaming infected. The main horde must have been the ones at the front because I only counted about ten or so still standing back here. There were fallen bodies littered around the vehicles, all shot with their guns.

"They broke through both sets of doors, we only have a bit before they will reach back here," I filled them in on what happened.

"Shit!" Whit yelled. 

"Calm down!" Heather yelled back, more stressed out that I had ever seen her before.

I could clearly see the worried lines etched into her face that I had managed to over look, until now.

"We gotta go before this gets worse," Ali declared, as soon as she cleared the roof hatch.

All of us scrambled back down the ladder, planning to roll up the receiving door just enough so that we could escape through. It groaned and squeaked as Whit and Heather yanked on the chain. Light spilled in as it slowly opened and soon there was enough room for us to crawl out. They tied the chain around the handle on the wall, testing to make sure the door wouldn't roll back down and squish us on our way out.

I threw our bags first, then followed suit and rolled out. The rising sun and morning air greeted me and I realised just how stuffy it was inside that store. I pulled out my Beretta and shot the infected closest to me. The bullet landed in the things torso, the impact knocking it to the tarmac. In three steps I hovered over the infected and shot it in the head. The body jerked at the force and laid still. I looked up, only to see the rest coming straight for me.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got this chapter done quite early so i'm hoping to have another update by the end of today. Feel free to leave any feedback!


	21. Police Hell

A bullet whizzed by my head and I turned to glare at the idiot who thought it was alright to shoot so close to me. Heather had her gun raised and was picking off the closest threats. Well, I trusted Heather more with a gun than anyone, but I still didn't approve of her shooting so close to me. The slide of my gun popped back, signalling that the magazine was empty. All those bullets used and I had only taken down three infected, I really needed to work on my aim when under pressure. 

"Ash!" Ali yelled over the fray.

I spotted her opening the truck door and stabbing the keys into the ignition. Whit hopped into the passenger side, since she was closest. I dug into my pocket and produced the van keys.

"Heather, let's go!" I screamed at her as I ran for the van.

She held up her hand for the keys and I tossed them to her opened palm. I was too worked up to fight over who was driving and plus, with my shaky hands I wouldn't be very good at the moment anyways. The engine sputtered, but started quickly when Heather turned the keys. She put it in drive and floored it, smashing into the zombie who was unfortunately right in front of the grill. Blood and goo, splattered all over the windshield and the body crunched under the wheels as we ran it over. Heather flipped on the wipers and the mess smeared on the windshield.

I let out a nervous laugh at the sight and Heather gave me a questioning glance out of the corner of her eye. I waved it off. After a few more wipes, the windshield was clear of the mess. Heather avoided hitting anymore of the infected, steering the vehicle away from the bodies coming towards us. we peeled out onto the road that passed behind the wal-mart, the wheels squealing in protest. The smell of burnt rubber wafted into the van.

I turned to look out the back window only to realise I couldn't see over the mound of supplies crammed into the back. 

"They're right behind us," Heather pointed to the side mirror. 

I spotted Ali in the truck a few car lengths behind us and breathed a sigh of relief. Heather led us out of the town and back onto the interstate. She continued heading north. 

"So I take it we're still heading to Gretna?" I asked

"We need to see if they have a police radio and scanner. Maybe we can start broadcasting and see if anyone hears."

I glanced back at the side mirror to see that Ali wasn't right behind us anymore. 

"Ah, Heather" I pointed to her side mirror. 

"Shit!" She put on the brakes and slammed her hand against the steering wheel.

We were sitting in the middle of the three lane highway, a few wrecked and abandoned cars sitting nearby. There was an unmoving body lying face down by a rusty Mustang.

"Are you going to turn around?"

"We will give them a few minutes. I'm guessing Ali tried to go back to the cabin."

There was no way Whit would allow that, so I fervently hoped they didn't start fighting. We waited in silence for a few more minutes, our breathing and the engine the only sounds in the van. I opened my mouth only to shut it again when I spotted the black Chevy coming up behind us. 

"See." Heather put the van back into drive and we continue along the interstate.

"Do you think that horde will follow us? Or at least start moving in our direction?" I mused out loud. 

"Dunno, I hope not. But let's just hope they head this way instead of towards the cabin."

 

We approached the Gretna turnoff in just under an hour. I only counted a handful of infected during our jaunt down the interstate. Heather easily avoided them, making use of all three lanes. The turnoff wasn't blocked with cars like the last one, so our entry to Gretna was already smoother than the last. 

"Any idea where the police station is?" I asked.

"I got a rough idea, I've only ever set foot in Gretna once before. I had no reason to go to the police station."

 

The town was a decent sized one, not too large or small. We passed by the main drag of stores then ended up in a relatively new development of houses. They stuck out amongst the rest of the ageing infrastructure. 

"Are you also noticing the lack of infected? Or bodies?"

"Just thinking that myself. A town this size should have some about."

"Stop!" I commanded.

Heather hit the brakes without question and I stepped out of the car. The last portion of the new subdivision was all just empty lots. But that wasn't what had caught my attention. 

"Ho-ly shit" Heather said in a low voice as we approached the last lot. 

It looks like they had managed to dig a basement, but instead of being filled with cement, the hole was filled with charred and burnt bodies. The stench of scorched charcoal and gasoline, mixed with a foul smell I couldn't place, drifted off to the massive pile. There must have been at least a hundred bodies in there. Whether they were the corpses of infected or not, I had no way of knowing. 

"You can still smell the burned flesh, whoever did this must have added to the pile recently." Heather observed, making me even more nervous.

Ali and Whit had joined us, both just as disturbed by the sight as we were. 

"What the hell?" Whit asked to no one in particular. 

"You think whoever did this is nearby?" I asked.

"I'd bet on it and to do something on this scale, it would need more than one person." Heather rubbed her hand along her jaw.

"Well this is probably the most efficient way to deal with the infected." Whit said. 

"If they were all infected," I voiced what I'm sure the others were thinking. 

"Come on, let's keep moving." Heather prompted. 

 

We drove in silence, following the blue signs that showed us the way to the police station. Heather made sure to drive slower, trying not to draw attention to ourselves. Since we were the only moving vehicle on the road, driving slower was futile. The police station appeared on our right; a chain-link fence surrounded the perimeter. 

Heather spotted them before I did, "I'm willing to bet these are the folks who did the burning back there."

There were two men stationed at the make-shift front gate. The chain-link had run all the way along except for the break in the front. Which was now covered with a brand new movable chain-link gate; you could tell due to the shininess of the gate compared to the rest. 

Now aware of our presence, the two men approached our van with their weapons drawn. Both had black handguns pointed right for us. They weren't wearing any police or military type clothes; Just green cargo jackets and jeans. One man veered off towards Ali and whit's truck while the other came up to the driver's side. I gulped as the man opened Heather's door. 

"Get out," the man said forcefully. 

"Alright, we don't want any trouble," Heather said calmly. 

"You too," The man said as he noticed me in the passenger seat.

I reached for the doors, fear making it hard to grip the handle. Were we being taken hostage?

"It's gonna be fine," Heather looked me in the eye and nodded. 

"Now!" The armed man demanded. 

 

After a few attempts, I managed to open the door; my legs were shaking really badly. It's been two months since we have seen any other people and these were the first one's we'd run into. This wasn't a good sign. Ali and Whit were ushered out of the truck by the other guard. 

"Turn off the van."

Heather did as she was told and discretely picked the van key off the key chain, slipping it into her pocket. The guard grabbed the key chain from Heather's hand while keeping the gun trained on her. The other guard followed suit and took Ali's keys from her. They were both average height and not particularly muscled, but they had guns aimed right at us so starting something wouldn't bode well for us. 

"Get over there." He pointed with his pistol to Heather, so I walked over to stand beside her. 

My legs were like a hundred pound weights, fear making my limbs cease up.

"Open up," The other guard yelled and the chain-link gate started to move.

 

It took two men from the inside to lift and swing open the wide gate. They were dressed in similar attire; they almost looked like a hunting group. 

"Move."

I looked at Heather, the terror clear as day on my face. 

She whispered to me, "Just follow my lead and we will get out of here."

With the guns pointed at our backs, we were ushered into the compound. There wasn't much room between the fence and the building, especially along the sides. Our vehicles wouldn't have fit inside. the gate was closed behind us and the two men who had opened it stood at the ready.

The font doors to the police station opened and one Man strolled through, as if he owned the place. He was wearing a faded green wife-beater top and army cargo pants. His belt boasted two gun holsters, which were not empty, and a rather large knife. Tattoos covered one arm and he was wearing a pair of motorcycle gloves. As he got closer, the taller and bigger her became. He must have stood well over six feet and had the body of someone who devoted at least two hours a day to weight training. His face didn't show any emotion as he approached us 

"Connor, did you check them for weapons?" The intimidating man barked at the guard who had forced us out. 

"Will do," Connor panicked and motioned for the others. 

 

They descended on us and I instinctively backed up. Heather shook her head at me, silently telling me to remain still. The guard patted me down and removed my Bretta and knife, while the other guards did the same to the rest of my group. They gathered up our weapons and placed them in a large garbage bag. Now we were really screwed. I didn't like the look of this group. There was one man stationed on the roof with a hunting rifle. He didn't seem too concerned with us; his weapon remained passive at his side. 

"Now what brings you all to Gretna this fine day?" The muscled man asked, trying to sound conversational.

"We just wanted to see if we could find a police radio or scanner, that's all." Heather spoke up on our behalf. 

Not that any of us were considering speaking up. I'm pretty sure if I were forced to speak, that my voice would come out in a squeak. I have never been so terrified in my whole life.; even the infected didn't scare me as much as this group did. I flexed my fingers trying to get the involuntary stiffness out of them. Apparently extreme fear made my joints buckle and stiffen. This was something I could have gone my whole life without knowing and been happy about it. 

The man smiled at us, while the rest of their crew remained silent. It was clear he fancied himself the leader of the paramilitary type group. They looked like a rag-tag bunch of macho men.

"Why don't you come inside and we can maybe discuss a trade? My men tell me you have two vehicles full of supplies."

It wasn't until then that I noticed the walkie-talkies they all sported on their belts. 

"I think out here would be best." Heather eyed the man warily. 

"Now you've hurt my feelings," Their leader tsked. "I would have liked for you to take the offer voluntarily. Now I must insist you come inside."

He nodded his head towards us and the guards sprang into action. The one closest to me grabbed my forearm in a vice like grip. He started to drag me towards the police building. I wanted to struggle but none of my limbs were cooperating with what my brain was telling them to do. The others didn't bother putting up a fight either; now noticing that the sniper on the roof had hoisted his rifle up to eye level. 

Heather stared the leader down as we were ushered against our will into the building. The leader just smiled politely as we passed. He shot me a wink as I walked by and I just stared. Have I mentioned how screwed we are?

 


	22. Escape plan

We were brought through the main doors and into the police station. It looked like any small town station would; a couple of desks in the main area and some offices for the higher -ups lining the area. The guards led us to the back portion labelled 'Holding area'. The first thing that came into my view was the large, iron bars that kept the prisoners inside. 

The guard holding Heather pulled out a ring of keys and unlocked the first of the two holding cells, both of which were facing one another. Pushing himself through the now crowded walkway, their leader whispered something into the guards' ear. He nodded at whatever the large man had said. He shoved Heather in first then Whit and Ali, locking the door back up behind him. 

Now I was starting to sweat

"What about her?" Heather ran up to the bars.

The leader just shrugged. "Keys."

The guard handed the ring off and the muscled man unlocked the opposite cell.

"After you," He smiled at me and I resisted the urge to shiver. He gave off a major stranger danger vibe. 

Not seeing any way to escape, I did as I was told and with the help of the guard still hooked onto my upper arm, I walked into the cell. The lock clicked behind me and I rubbed at my arm where there was undoubtedly a bruise starting to form from that guys grip.

"How rude of me, My names Riley." The leader announced. "Now yours?"

Heather spoke for us again, "I'm Heather, and this is Whit and Ali." She pointed to them both and then to me. "And that's Ashlyn"

"Nice to meet you all, lovely name" He looked at me for the last part and how I wish I could have replied with my usual retort, but I just nodded stiffly.

All of the others filed out of the room at Riley's request, leaving just him and the guard named Connor.

"Now what exactly do you all have in these vehicles of yours?" Connor asked. 

"Just food and general supplies." Heather answered.

I don't know why she was humouring these lunatics but she was.

"Just for you four?" Riley eyed us. 

"Yeah, had a bigger group before, but we're all that's left," Heather lied. 

"Where's your main base?"

"Well you see, we're in the market for one."

"Well you see, I know you're lying to me and I don't take well to that" Riley stalked to the front of their cage. 

To Heather's credit, She didn't back up or even bat an eye. Riley grinned at her then turned to Connor abruptly. 

"Bring in their supplies."

 

Connor nodded and took off. If they got hold of all of our stuff, then our trip will have been for nothing. Granted we got out of here. My legs finally gave out and I plunked down on the nasty cot in the cell. They wouldn't keep us prisoners here? or worse, kill us would they? I looked at Riley's face and something there said he's done worse.

His hawk-like eyes kept returning to me and not in a flattering way. I had been leered at by drunken college boys before, but this look made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This guy was dangerous, possibly unhinged and he was rather too focused on me for my liking. 

The other's must have noticed this too and were shooting me concerned glances. Not that I wasn't already worked up as it was. All sorts of horrible thoughts started to run through my head, my breathing was nearing panic attack proportions. I needed to calm down; I wouldn't be able to help myself if I got worked up. I tried to focus on my breathing while Heather answered more of Riley's questions. Heather refused to tell him about the others at the cabin but Riley insisted that she was lying.

Connor interrupted the interrogation when he came back in and fetched Riley. 

"Now, don't go anywhere." Riley laughed at his joke and left us to stew in the cells.

"Ash, you ok?" Heather asked me through the bars.

"Y-" I had to clear my throat. "Yes"

"If they try anything, just kick them in the balls and run," Ali said, now grasping onto the cell bars.

"You're not helping," I muttered, more to myself since the volume in my voice wasn't working. 

"How are we going to get out of this Heather?" Ali whirled around on her, clearly blaming her for our predicament. 

"Give me a minute Ali," Heather growled, her calm demeanour fading. 

"I got an idea," Whit said as we all turned to her expectantly. 

"Well?" Ali prompted. 

Whit dug into her pocket and produced a set of keys, "The spare to the truck. You left them in the glove compartment." I hadn't known she was a clepto

Ali didn't even look mad, as realisation lit up her face. "The panic button."

"Exactly, we need a distraction and this will bring in the infected for miles."

"What about when they come back looking for who set off the alarm?" I asked, my voice deciding to return.

"Well, they will need to open the cell to get the key fob to turn it off, so when they do, we rush them and steal their weapons."

"I dunno, this could go real bad, real fast." Heather hesitated, unsure for the first time since I had known her. 

Without further warning, Whit hit the panic button for he truck and the shrill alarm echoed all the way into the building. We all froze at the sound trying to listen for footsteps. I heard yelling outside and a gunshot. What they shot at, I had no idea. I got up from the cot, my legs popping at the sudden use. Standing on my toes, I tried to peer out the tiny window. All I could see was the side of the chain-link fence. 

"These guys aren't military, just a bunch of thugs. So they won't know how to handle us rushing them," Heather quickly explained. "Waste no time when they open the cell door. Go for the head and try to knock them out as fast as you can. Don't give them time to reach for their weapons."

A few minutes later I heard the front doors crash in and angry footsteps carried to the back. Two guards, one of them Connor, burst into the holding area.

"Alright, which one of you has the keys?" Connor barked, in no mood for joking. 

 

The alarm was still sounding in the background, like a glorious beacon. Soon infected would be swarming this place and maybe we would be able to escape. Or, maybe we had just made it a whole lot worse. When no one said anything, Connor ripped the cell keys from his pocket and opened their barred doors.

But they were waiting. When Connor yanked the cell door open, all three of them rushed at him and Heather swerved around to grab the other guard. Heather punched him square in the face as the guard reached for his weapon on his belt. He crashed against my cell, the back of his head connecting with the thick iron bars. Heather didn't leave him time to recover and punched him in the gut with a forceful uppercut.

He keeled over and Heather shoved him to the ground, grabbing a bunch of hair and smashing his head to the cold cement floor with astounding power. Some blood seeped out from underneath the guard's skull, but he remained limp. Heather got off of him just as Connor slumped unconscious to the ground. Whit and Ali had made quick work of him.

I gripped the bars tight. Connor had dropped the keys in all the confusion, so Heather swooped to pick them up. Bringing the key ring to my cell, Heather had to try five different keys before she got the one that matched my cell lock. I rushed out of the cell, glad to be free. I hadn't realised just how lucky we were to have found each other and the cabin. It could have gone a lot worse, in a lot of ways. I had the uncharacteristic urge to hug Heather, grateful that she got me out of here.

"Thank you."

Heather didn't need to say anything, instead she gave me a one armed hug and I returned it with a squeeze.

"We don't have much time before the other's come too," Heather said as she pulled the handgun from the guard she knocked out. 

Ali grabbed the one from Connor and passed the knife to Whit. Heather also handed me the guards knife, although I had no idea what for. No matter how creepy they were, I don't think I was up for stabbing a human. 

"I got a plan" Whit announced. 

Apparently she thought very well under pressure, but didn't feel the need to share as she took off towards the back of the holding cell. There was an old, metal rung ladder that led to the roof. I hadn't noticed it before, but did most places have a fire escape to the roof? They were proving very useful for us this far. As she climbed the ladder, she voiced her plan.

"I'm gonna jump from the roof, over the fence. There couldn't have been more than two feet of clearance on the sides. You keep them occupied."

She pushed up the roof latch as Heather ran over to her. "And do what? go for help? there isn't any help."

"I'll think of something." Whit disappeared into the afternoon light streaming through the square opening, at the exact moment more guards entered. This time Riley was in the lead and he looked pissed.

"Now which one of you has the keys?" His eyes flashed to the downed guards, then pulled his weapon from his belt. 

 

Heather instantly responded by lifting her stolen gun and Ali followed while I stood here uselessly with my little pig-sticker. Behind Riley, the other two guards looked at each other, and then raised their own weapons. I had never been in a standoff before and I can't say I enjoyed it. Riley stood there menacingly, with a fake smile plastered on his face. 

"We can do this the easy way or the way that ends with you dead," he said matter-of-factly.

"I'll take neither," Was all Heather replied with. 

None of the guards had their guns trained on me; obviously they didn't consider me a threat. In a flash, my arm rose of its own accord and I whipped the knife at Riley. He spun, my movement catching him off guard, and the blade sunk into his upper chest. He howled in pain, shooting off one bullet before dropping his gun in the process. I ducked instinctively, praying for the first time that I would be safe from the bullets. Luckily, the bullet was way off course and landed somewhere in the cell.

 

The guards behind him fumbled in confusion, readying to shoot. Heather reacted fast and shot them both dead. Two shots and two lives later, the guards landed on the ground behind the kneeling, cursing Riley. He went to pull the knife out of him, but Ali burst out from beside us and delivered a swift kick to Riley's head, rendering him unconscious. We all stood still for a few seconds, needing to process what the hell just happened. 

Heather had just killed two men, two men that were ready to end us. I had just stabbed Riley, something I still couldn't believe I did. It felt so surreal; like I was watching a really high-definition version of an action movie. Heather was the first to come to her senses. 

"We need to move, now!"

I nodded, keeping an eye on Riley as we stepped over their bodies, to get to the main part of the station. No one else was in there; the rest of the minions must have been outside. The alarm was getting louder the closer we got to the outside. I heard a gunshot go off on the roof and Heather ran to the front door, like a woman possessed. Whit was up there. She flung open the door just in time to witness a body fall from the sky. The sound of bones crunching and an unnerving splat sound reached my ears. Dear god, don't be Whit.

Upon closer inspection, we realised it was the sniper on the roof, not Whit. It was hard to tell, since the body made such a mess, but all the clothes were the same army surplus type as the rest of the individuals. We closed the door, not wanting the other guards to know we had escaped and ran to the large front window. The gate was wide open, since they had been in the process of relieving us of our supplies. 

A couple of men were hurrying to shut it, locking anyone who was on the other side out. More gun shots went off from outside and that's when I noticed the infected in the distance.  A whole bunch of them were ambling towards the noise of the siren. Some of them were already at the chain-link fence, rattling it while trying to get in. We were surrounded and I wondered yet again, if we had just made things worse.


	23. The Plan

"Whit must have pushed that sniper off the roof," Heather stated, as she craned her head to look out the wide window. "That's one less gun to worry about."

"How many more are out there?! I asked.

"Dunno, we got their leader and four guards lying in the back room. I only saw those but judging from the noise of gun shots, there are at least three more out there with weapons."

"So what we going to do? Wait until Whit does whatever she comes up with?" Ali blurted out. 

I noticed she wasn't able to sit still, unlike my frozen reaction to everything. Ali was moving relentlessly from foot to foot and running her hand through her hair over and over again. Heather was wiggling her fingers as her mind moved to come up with a plan. I remained still like a statue.

Ironically I looked like the calm one, but inside I was beyond terrified. My mind had started to block the freaking out part, probably due to some inherent survival instinct. The thoughts in my head finally melded into one. We needed to get out of here, and fast.

"I don't think we will have to wait too long." I pointed to the truck that was now reversing.

Shots were fired towards the receding truck from the others that appeared out front. I watched an infected which had managed to get in, tackle one guy that was too focused on shooting at the truck to see it in time. They fell to the ground in a tangled mass of limbs. The man screamed in agony as the infected tore at his neck with his bare teeth. Blood squirted from the wound and his screams turned to whimpers and then stopped abruptly. The infected continued to tear into the corpse, chewing and ripping at his flesh.

"Move back! She's going to ram it!" A voice bellowed from the front and the remaining men tried to run to the police station doors.

Seeing they were heading this way, we ran over to the doors to hold them closed. Heather flipped the deadbolt right as they crashed into the doors, which shook from the impact.

"What the hell?" Someone bellowed from the other side. 

"Shoot the lock!"

 

In less time than it took to breathe, Heather grabbed my shoulder and dove to the side with me in tow. I hit the ground hard as bullets whizzed past us. The breath was ripped from my lungs, but I managed to crawl over further from the barrage of shots. Ali was on the other side of the door clutching her arm, blood was leaking down her shirt. 

"You ok?" I yelled once I had air in my lungs again.

"Just grazed me."

"It's not working!" The shooters from the other side yelled, when they tried to kick in the door again.

I imagine the front doors to a police station were purposely made to withstand a certain amount of damage, but it wouldn't hold for much longer.

"The ladder out back!" A muffled voice responded and I could hear the footsteps go around the building. 

Heather braved a look out the window, "Ho-ly shit! She's really going to ram it, get down!"

 

I heard the roar of the engine and then the loud clang of Whit running into the chain-link fence. Something hit the building with substantial impact and the windows shattered. Glass rained down all around us and I covered my head, diving underneath the nearest desk. I had once broken a vanity mirror years ago, but it was nothing compared to the size of this. 

Once the shards lay still, I moved out from under the desk. The glass crunched under my shoes as I walked over to Heather, who was crouched right under the window and was currently shaking the glass off of herself. Ali didn't appear to be touched by the shards as she flipped the deadbolt on the front doors with her left hand, her right arm still out of commission. The gate lay in a crumpled heap just outside the set of doors and the truck was half in half out of the fence. Whit was behind the wheel signalling for us to get in.

We climbed over the massive gate and ran to the truck. Infected were rattling the fence with renewed vigour and it was beginning to collapse inwards, starting from the edges where Whit had punctured a hole in it. Heather shot a few that had managed to sneak in by the truck. Ali passed me her gun, knowing she couldn't shoot while injured. 

I gulped. Spending a bit more time on aiming than I should have, I started to shoot at the things that were invading the police station, like ants to a panic. One down, two down, three down. I had taken out three in as many bullets but more were lining up to take over their place. We had a small window before the make-shift opening would be overrun. 

"We have to go now!" Heather yelled.

 

I started towards the truck, shooting at the ones coming up behind it. One tried to squeeze in the opening by the passenger side, so I switched to the knife Heather had handed me earlier and stuck it into the things left eye socket. It slumped forward, taking the knife with it. I pulled open the passenger side door and jumped in, shuffling to the back seat. Ali followed me in and manoeuvred to the back while Heather came in last, slamming the door behind her.

"GO!"

Whit hit reverse and floored it. We were catapulted against the front seats and Ali groaned in pain as her injured right arm was smashed against the seat. Shots were fired from the roof and we ducked to avoid any bullets. The windshield cracked and fissured where the bullets had hit, but Whit turned the wheel and hit drive, leaving the bullets behind us. We roared off the the side, running down mass amounts of infected. I don't know how much more the truck could take; the grill was becoming a lumpy mess.

Bodies were flying everywhere and one lifted over the grill and smashed into the windshield, shattering the glass, making it almost impossible to see out of. Whit veered to the left and the body rolled off of the hood.

The back seat was crammed with supplies. It looked like they hadn't got a chance to strip the truck clean. The bag of clothes I had tossed in last night were lying at my feet, reminding me that my backpack was sitting in the van. There went my gun. I looked down at the piece we had swiped; it was a generic handgun, nowhere near as nice as my Beretta's. But our lost supplies were the least our concern, We had to get back to the cabin alive.

 

Once we were clear of the thickest part of the crowd, Whit slowed down her reckless driving and became a little more defensive. We reached the main street, which previously was empty, now as busy as it would have been before the virus. Infected were shambling across the street, drawn in by the trucks alarm. At least, I assumed that's what brought them out. We passed by the cremated remains in the empty lot and then back out to the interstate. 

As soon as we hit the main drag Whit applied the brakes. The truck stood still in the middle of the three lanes, the engine still running.

"Why'd ya stop?" Heather asked.

Instead of answering, Whit opened the drivers side door and got out. Ali and I exchanged confused glances. Heather opened her own door to see what had gotten into Whit. Not wanting to be left out, I vacated the truck with Ali in tow. For some reason she followed me out my side instead of opening her own door.

"What's wrong Whit?" Heather asked, concern lacing her voice. 

We all stared in horror as Whit rolled up her left sleeve to reveal a bloody set of teeth marks and some skin missing. Heather stood frozen in place, the shock too much for her. I heard Ali swallow loudly beside me.

"I'm going to turn, aren't I?" Whit asked in a low voice. 

It was one thing to be dying; it was another thing all together to be a dead man walking. The irony was not lost on me. I had only witnessed a handful of people turn once infected, but I knew she didn't have long. The ones that turned fastest were the ones who had died while they were attacked, like in the school. The one's that didn't die during the attack turned a little while later, like Lindsey had. 

 

A tear slipped down Heather's cheek and I found my own eyes starting to cloud up with salty tears. None of us knew what to do. We had just left the supermarket this morning only to be taken hostage and here we were with more bad luck thrown our way. Only this time death was much closer. 

I turned back to the vehicle in a blur and started rummaging through the pharmacy supplies that were buried underneath the other items in the back of the truck bed. I ran back to Whit with disinfectant and gauze; my own personal saviour.

"That won't do any good," Whit deadpanned. 

"Give me your arm," I demanded, ignoring her words. "What happened?"

"Well first I shoved the sniper off the roof; he hadn't seen me coming up behind him. Then I jumped off the roof, outside the fence and when I ran to the truck, there was already some of the infected around it. I pulled one off by the collar, but it twisted around and bit me before I could raise my knife."

She stopped her tale and held out her injured arm for me, so I got to work. Whit hissed at the stinging disinfectant spray as it bubbled on the wound's surface. Heather was hovering, still eerily silent. The bite looked beyond painful. It was an angry shade of red and purple; it almost looked like it was pulsing. I wrapped the gauze firmly around her arm, but the blood was soaking through at an alarming rate. Maybe that's why people died so fast when attacked, the wound didn't clot. 

"Leave me here."

"Never going to happen." Heather sounded angry.

"You might not turn, Whit." I admitted

She gave me a humourless laugh, "And what are you basing that off of?"

I handed my supplies to Ali and she took them with her left hand. They all looked at me warily as I began to lift my shirt; Whit gave me an incredulous look, like she was worried I was about to strip. The nail marks on my skin had healed but they left one hell of a scar, they looked like someone had dragged a hot poker across my skin. They were raised and red. 

"That's from an infected?" Whit asked, life coming into her voice once again. 

"Back when everything broke out. I was at the hotel and an infected woman chased me down and scratched me. Ali and I had gone to the hospital after but it was too crazy there to get any treatment," I recounted what had happened, purposely leaving out the part about Lindsey. 

"And you didn't turn?" Whit sounded hopeful.

"Obviously not."

Heather smiled at Whit and put her hand on her shoulder. 

"See, there's no need for us to leave you sitting out here."

Ali finally spoke up, "Maybe you're just immune."

Way for her to wreck the point of my little story. I shot Ali a sideways glance, silently telling her to shut up.

"there's no way of knowing. so everybody get back in the truck and we're heading back to the cabin." I used my rarely heard authoritative voice

 

Whit's lips quirked and she trotted off to the passenger side, Heather to the drivers. Ali and I slip back into the cab and I fixed up her arm once we were on the move again. It turns out the bullet had gone through her arm, which was lucky because I was pretty sure I didn't have the stomach to fish a bullet out. I sprayed some of the antiseptic on it then wrapped her upper arm in the remaining gauze. I was getting pretty good at that.

"I think you might need stitches?" It came out more as a question, since I wasn't actually trained to treat wounds. 

"I can stitch you girls up once we get to the cabin." Heather announced from the front seat.

She kept looking over at Whit, who was staring out the window silently. I threw the unused medical supplies back into the bag and sat back in the seat. None of us wanted to talk; we needed the time to de-compartmentalise. My gaze kept returning to whit, looking for any signs that she was going to turn. Lindsey had lasted at least two hours before she turned, but that was only a guess on my part. She came to Ali and I after she was bitten, so there was no telling how long she was infected before we met her. 

I turned in my seat, paranoid that we were being followed. The last thing we needed, on top of everything else, was those psycho's following us back to the cabin. Much to my relief, the road behind us was as empty as the road in front of us. Just a few abandoned cars, the only infected being the dead bodies that occasionally lay by the roadside. 

 

Whit let out a wet sounding cough and I started to chew at my lips, my emotions fried. Lindsey had started to make those rattling coughs before she turned. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I have two ideas for this story and i'm not sure which road to go down. Option 1 means the story will have roughly 10 more chapters. Option 2 means this will be like the halfway mark. So I guess it depends if you're enjoying it, let me know what you think I should do. I don't want to drag it out if people are starting to get bored. 
> 
> I really do need feedback this time, I can't really continue updating until i get a general idea of what you guys want.


	24. The Inevitable

The drive back to the cabin was fraught with tension, much more so than when we left. Whit had resorted to shivers and more sickly coughs. Her skin had paled, so Heather used her hand to feel for Whit's temperature. 

"You're burning up. Got any Tylenol back there?"

I looked through the meagre pharmacy supplies and produced the extra strength version. I passed two tablets and a bottle of water to Whit, who regarded my outstretched hand with glassy eyes. She was starting to zone out. Weakly, she took my offerings, struggling with swallowing the pills.

"We're almost at the cabin, so just hold out a little longer." Heather pushed harder on the gas pedal, adding an extra twenty miles an hour to our speed. 

The others must have heard us pull up the gravel road because they were lying in wait out front. It felt like we had been gone for weeks, when in reality it had only been two days. I felt both physically and mentally drained, struggling with processing all that had happened to us. And it looked like I had guessed wrong. Whit was getting worse at an alarming rate. 

Tobin ran up to the truck as we opened the doors. 

"Ali, Ash!"

she slammed into Ali, like a little kid. Ali grunted with the force, but squeezed her back. Alex wrapped me in a giant bear hug. 

"You asshole, you were supposed to be back yesterday!"

"something came up," She let me go

"Ah, what's wrong with her?" Meghan asked, stepping away from Whit. 

Whit had slunk out of the passenger's door, and was now bent forward. Heather rushed from the driver's side to her. 

"Stay away." Whit hissed as she weakly tried to push her best friend away. 

"Let me see," Heather pleaded. 

Whit collapsed to her knees, coughing blood profusely. The grass around her was sprayed in little red droplets. I heard Alex gasp as she grabbed my elbow. Everyone backed away, except for Heather. Ali clutched Tobin tightly and tried to steer her towards the cabin. 

"Whit." I shook off Alex's grasp and tentatively walked over to her. 

"All of you-,"  She gave a bloody cough, "-need to stay away."

Her eyes rolled back in her head and Whit fell to the ground, her body going into convulsions. Meghan's hand moved to rest on the gun holster on her hip.

"She's infected, isn't she?"

The look on my face answered her question and she glared off to Whit. I held my hand up, telling Meghan to stay back. Heather was hovering over Whit's jerking form, her hands waving over her uselessly. 

None of us knew what to do, there was nothing we could do. I knew Whit would turn and then we would have a big choice to make. After a few moments of spewing blood and spit, Whit lay still on her side. She didn't appear to be breathing. 

"Whit?" Heather said weakly, she was still crouched over Whit.

"Heather, don't get too close," I warned as I moved closer.

"Whit!" Heather started to shake her motionless body. 

"Heather!" I yelled in warning, knowing full well how a turned person could react. 

I ran over to try and pry Heather off of whit's corpse before she attacked. A raspy growl escaped Whit's lips and she reached out to grasp Heather's arm.

"Whit?" Heather asked hopeful, but Whit just let out a low, raspy moan.

 

I grabbed Heather's arm and yanked it free from her grasp on Whit and tried to steer her backwards. Whit rose in jerky motions, her eyelids opened to reveal a set of blood-shot eyes. All the blood vessels must have burst in her eyes, creating a sinister set of red orbs. She snarled and lunged for us from her half-sitting position. Heather was still lying on the ground, so I kicked out with my right foot as hard as I could, hitting Whit's corpse under the jaw. She flew backwards, but got up fast. 

The brief question of why some infected move faster than others, crossed my mind in confusion. Whit spotted Ali and decided to make a dash for her instead; her arms rose in her direction, snapping her teeth. She let out a scream and backed up, tripping over her own feet. Without hesitation, Meghan whipped out her handgun and shot Whit in the head. Her body crashed to the side, discoloured blood leaking from the wound. Then she laid still, for good this time. 

We all just stood still, too afraid to even breathe. A distressed cry came from Heather and I let go of the tight grasp I had on the collar of her shirt. She ran to Whit's corpse, tears streaming down her face. I could barely make out her saying "No, no, no," over and over again. I heard Tobin sobbing into Alex's shirt as she took her into the cabin. Ali just stayed fallen on the ground, transfixed with Whit. Meghan put her weapon away and helped Ali to her feet. 

Meghan hadn't hesitated to lay waste to Whit; infected or not, we had lived with this woman for the past two months. When it came down to it, I wouldn't have been able to do it. That put me even more on edge. 

I don't know what affected me more, the sight of Whit dead on the ground or Heather weeping over her body. The sensation of liquid running down my face took me off guard. I wiped at my cheek, realising I was crying. This was just too much to take and the tears wouldn't stop. Whit and I butted heads constantly, but I didn't want her dead. And I certainly didn't wish this on Heather. 

I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Not wanting to deal with this, I took off to the back of the cabin. Ali looked like she wanted to follow, but I shot her a look that made her stop in her tracks. 

 

Tears were making it hard to see, so I plunked myself down on the tree stump out back and let them flow. My mom always made remarks on how I wasn't very girly, never crying much as I grew up. Now I realised why I never cried much growing up, I had nothing to cry about; until now.

We had become our own little dysfunctional family. Whit was like that sister you fought with, but at the end of the day still cared for. The tears had stopped now, leaving my eyes feeling swollen and my nose had become stuffed up. I felt gross. This is why I didn't like crying, you felt even worse afterwards than you did before.

"Hey," Ali asked, hesitantly.

I wiped my face, trying to clear the streaks left behind by the tears.

"Hey," My voice was nasally from the stuffed up nose.

"So that was rough."

"Just a little," I muttered

"Meghan thinks we should deal with the body soon."

"Fuck Meghan" Ali seemed taken aback by my reaction.

"You know someone would have had to shoot Whit," She said quietly.

"That's not the issue. We will give Heather as much time as she needs."

Ali was right. If Meghan hadn't shot Whit, someone else would have had to do it. It did however, bother me how little it seemed to affect her and that she didn't use a silencer. That shot was loud.

I got up and walked back to the Cabin. Heather was still beside Whit's body, but Meghan had disappeared. When I opened the door Tobin was chattering away nervously and Alex was trying to calm her down. She stood up off of the dusty couch when we entered.

"She still out there?" Alex asked.

"Yeah."

"What do we do?"

"I don't have a clue." 


	25. Jack's

Meghan turned up a few hours later, covered in dirt. She propped the shovel she was carrying against the cabin. 

"I dug her a grave," She looked over at Heather, still sitting beside Whit's body. "For when she's ready."

That was oddly nice of Meghan. Or creepy, I couldn't decide. We had waited in the cabin for Heather, but she remained at Whit's fallen body. We had gathered outside in the hope that Heather would do something or at the very least get up. I walked over to her; the sun was starting to set behind the treeline, creating an orange glowing effect along the tips of the trees. Their shadows were extending closer and closer to us, like silent, grabbing hands.

"Heather," I placed a hand on her shoulder. "We have to do something with Whit. Meghan dug a grave for her."

Heather took a deep breath before she replied. "Are there any extra sheets?"

"Yes there is, i'll be right back." Ali ran back into the cabin.

She re-emerged a minute later with an off-white sheet. Together, we placed the sheet flat on the ground and lifted Whit's stiff body onto it then wrapped her fully.

"Where dis you dig the grave?" I asked Meghan. 

She pointed to the east treeline. "Just under those trees."

 

I grabbed the shovel as Ali and Heather lifted Whit. We walked to the trees in a make shift funeral procession. Tobin ran to the cabin flower beds and ripped out some blooming buds. Gently, they lowered Whit's body into the shallow, uneven grave. I couldn't chastise Meghan for the crappy quality; digging was hard. 

The sheet clad body looked out of place among the wildlife. I stabbed the shovel into the soft ground, not sure on how to proceed. I'd never been to a funeral before. Heather cleared her throat,

"Suffer us not, at our last hour, for any bitter pains of death, to fall from Thee. And when beseech thee oh Lord to receive with mercy unto thine arms the soul of our departed brethren today, that we may rejoice in their life and honour their passing to thy eternal care." She looked down at the grave, pain etched into her features as she took a breath. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me' your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

When she finished, silence reined. I guess I should say something. I cleared my throat and all heads turned to me. 

"Whit was like family. We all are. And when we lose a family member, they can't be replaced. She was like a sister to me. We fought and got along like siblings. At the end of the day all that matters is that we were there for each other, just like Whitney was there for us. She tried to teach me to hunt, unsuccessfully might I add. But she did manage to teach me something else; what it means to be brave. We would have never made it out of that police station if not for her sacrifice. That is what it means to be family."

Heather looked at me with appreciation in her eyes, "Amen."

 

She bent down and grabbed a handful of dirt, sprinkling it onto the body. I went next and then everyone else after me. I started shovelling the dirt pile back into the hole, but Meghan stilled my efforts with a hand on my shoulder. She held her hand out for the tool, so I passed it to her and she continued where I had left off. Since the hole wasn't that deep, it didn't take too long to fill. Tobin placed her freshly picked flowers on top of the grave.

Alex had taken off and reappeared with a makeshift cross, grave marker. She stuck it near where Whit's head would be and Meghan hammered it in more with the shovel. Darkness was now upon us, so we started to head back to the cabin. Heather was the last to leave as she whispered something to the grave that was not meant for our ears. 

 

That night was awful; I laid wide awake staring at nothing. Alex was snoring away beside me and there was no chance in hell I would sleep. Quietly, I crept out into the kitchen. A while ago I had spotted a bottle of Jack Daniels shoved to the back of one of the cupboards. Alex probably didn't even know about it and I could really use a drink.

I snatched it from its resting place, careful not to wake Heather who was sleeping on the pull-out couch thanks to some strong sleeping pills I had forced her to take. I pocketed the match book that was sitting on the counter on my way out. The door clicked into place soundlessly as I carefully closed it. The fire pit out back was my destination. I did have my knife with me should I need it.

 

The starlight vaguely illuminated my path to the back, but I still wished I had brought a flashlight. I knocked into one of the camping chairs, which meant I was where I wanted to be. The match sprang to life as I dragged the head along the packages rough patch. I tossed it in the fire pit and the dry wood caught on fire instantly, but the flames were dull and weak so I packed on some thin pieces. It crackled with the new edition and I shrank into my chair. 

A quarter of the bottle later, I was feeling pretty good. I felt warm. Invincible. I wonder if I put my hand into the fire, if it would hurt? Ok, maybe I was a little drunk. I tried to get up, but I fell back on my ass, into the camping chair. 

"Stupid chair," I muttered.

"You drunk?" Ali drawled, suddenly very much beside me. Normally I would have heard her approach, but she caught me off guard. I waved the bottle at her. 

"Not yet." I took another drink from the bottle and then offered it to her. She eyed it for a second then took a drink herself, as she pulled up a chair beside me. 

"Didn't peg you for a drinker," She said passing the bottle back to me. 

"Well i'm not normally a get drunk drinker. I find this whole apocalypse thing goes down a lot smoother with a bottle of Jack." I grinned drunkenly. Ali rolled her eyes and held her hand out for the bottle again. 

"You know Whit's death affected us all. Are you," She searched for the right word. "Ok?"

I sighed at her anticlimactic word choice, "Someone just died, no i'm not ok."

"Well i'm here for you if you need to talk or anything. I care about you, Ash." I couldn't really tell in the dim light, but she looked serious when she said that. That wouldn't do.

"Why Ali, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." I batted my eyelashes at her and she scowled down into the bottle. "Gimmie." I wiggled my fingers, telling her to give me back the bottle. 

"Think you've had enough." Ali grinned evilly, taking another drink of my Jack Daniels; well it was mine now. I narrowed my eyes. 

"So that's how you want to play this? I should warn you I've been told I'm a mean drunk." I reached for the bottle, the grin widening on her face as I missed completely. 

"That the best you got?" She mocked.

I shocked both of us when I jumped at her from my chair and knocked us over. I took advantage of her surprise to grab the bottle out her grasp, my drunken reflexes working overtime. 

"Ha!" I yelled proudly as I held the bottle up. 

"Jesus woman!" Ali said as she sat back up right.

"I told you not to mess with my Jack," I said matter-of-factly, taking a drink.

We were sitting really close now, our arms slightly touching, but neither of us moved away. We just sat in comfortable silence, sharing the bottle on the ground instead of our chairs.

"I'm gonna need to pick up more of this wonderful stuff when we make our next trip." I slurred

"You can't hold your drink, can you?" Ali shook her head beside me. 

"Sorry we can't all hold our drink like you" I retorted 

"We should go back inside."

"I don't want to go back in there," I pouted. 

Ali shook her head, then gave into the booze and took another long drink. An amber flew from the fire and landed on Ali's pants. She hissed in pain as we patted the spot where it had burned a hole through her jeans. I laughed at her exaggerated response. she acted like her leg was on fire. 

"It's not funny," She slurred

She sighed and grinned at my chuckling face. She moved closer and I stopped laughing. I knew what she was going to do and I wasn't as opposed to it as I should be. Her warm lips covered my own and I kissed her back. I rested my hand on her thigh and she gripped the back of my head, pulling me in closer. This would be awkward in the morning, but in my drunken state of mind, I found I didn't care.

She smelt of body wash and tasted like whisky. Using her body, she gently pushed my back to the ground so she was on top of me. Her lips moved to my neck and I ran my hands through her hair. She winced when my roaming hand went over her bandaged arm. 

"Sorry," I said in a breathless voice.

Instead of responding, She just crashed her lips back to mine. I ran my hands down her toned body and felt her abdomen contract at the touch. She grabbed my roaming hand, not hard though, just enough to stall it. 

"We shouldn't continue this," She was panting as she said it.

Rejection washed over me in a fierce tidal wave, no doubt worse because of the drink. I tried to shove her off, but she removed herself from on top of me without any more effort on my part. I stumbled as I attempted getting up. Ali tried to lend a hand but I swatted it off as I stomped away from the fire pit. How dare she reject me when she was the one who started it! I was pissed.

"Ash" Ali hissed behind me as she caught up to me. "You misunderstood."

She latched onto my arm and swing me around so I was facing her.

"What?" I demanded. 

"It's not that I don't want to...well you know." She looked really uncomfortable as she tried to explain herself. "Girl problems"

"You mean you're on your period?"

The dark was obscuring my view, but I was willing to bet she was blushing. 

"Yeah. Maybe in a few days, we can continue this?" She sounded hopeful and I laughed.

I had to put my hands on my knees, I was laughing so hard. Tears were threatening to over flow with my giggling. Now it was her turn to be pissed.

"It's not funny."

"No, it kind of is."

She just rolled her eyes and pulled me in for a kiss again. 

"I still don't want to go back in there."

"We could sleep in the hammock."

I thought about it, "Sure." It beat listening to Alex snoring for the rest of the night. 

The hammock in question was a freestanding one that you could buy from any outdoor store and it was close to the fire pit. She laid down first and then offered her hand for me. 

"So gentlemanly."

I took her outstretched hand and settled in the crook of her arm. 

"Night."

I don't remember what I replied with; the darkness took over as soon as I closed my eyes.

 


	26. Morning After

A shadow moved across the inside of my eyelids. Something was blocking the morning light and I was a little too hungover to deal with this. I stiffened and cracked an eye open, readying to attack. The smirking face of Alex peered down at me. She uncrossed her arms and produced the now empty bottle of Jack Daniels. 

"You couldn't have saved even a little bit for me?"

I had to swallow a few times before I was able to reply. It felt like I had just been standing in front of an air-conditioning unit with my mouth open for hours. 

"Kill me."

Alex laughed, "Come on, we'll get you some Tylenol and water."

I started to sit up; trying not to jostle the hammock too much, but with it being a hammock and all, that attempt was futile. 

Ali's eyes flew open as she was rocked back and forth, "Wha?"

I chuckled at her complete disorientation, "I think we're being told we have to get up."

She scrubbed her hand over her face and hauled herself to her feet.

"You need some Tylenol too?" Alex grinned. 

"Well I aint gonna say no."

 

We walked back to the cabin, probably looking as bad as we felt. Alex was grinning the whole time and I could tell she was waiting for us to be alone before she tried to drag all the details out of me.

Meghan and Tobin were making breakfast with the powdered eggs we found. Heather was nowhere to be seen.

"Where you been?" Tobin narrowed her eyes at us

Ali shot me a panicked glance and I just grinned, "I dibs the shower first."

Then ran off, leaving her to explain. The shower was luke-warm and had almost zero water pressure, but it beat bathing in a pond out the back. The water also had a slight metallic smell to it, which usually meant the well needed more water soften salts. At least we were getting our iron.

 

I took two pills from the bottle Alex propped on the kitchen counter and downed them with some instant coffee. I tried to eat some of the scrambled eggs, but my stomach could only handle so much. 

"Ali said you had a bonfire without me," Tobin pouted. 

I scratched the back of my head, not sure of what else Ali had told her, "Sorry, it was past your bedtime" I joked

Judging by the look on her face, Tobin didn't like my answer. 

"Tell you what, next time we will all have a bonfire. We even grabbed some marshmallows on our run."

Ali grinned at me, her hand resting on her right shoulder. I forgot she still had that bullet wound. 

"Where did Heather go?"

"Don't know, she was gone before I got up," Meghan answered. 

Shit, that couldn't be good. We still needed her to sew up Ali. 

"Do you want me to help you patch your arm?" I asked

"If you could, that could be great."

 

We had unloaded some of the supplies yesterday and it looks like they had been back at it this morning. There was a massive pile of stuff in the corner and pretty much on every surface. I grabbed the first-aid supplies and began re-wrapping Ali's arm. The wound looked sore and hadn't started the healing process. It needed to be sewn up.

"Still think it needs stitches?"

"I'd say so."

"Think you can do it?" Ali looked me in the eye.

"I've only ever sewn my clothes and not very well either. I'd probably make it worse."

"I can do it," Meghan put down her coffee mug.

"You've stitched a wound before?" I asked sceptically. 

"No, but I've taken advanced first-aid training and we had to learn about it."

Judging by the look on Ali's face, I don't think she trusted Meghan to do it. 

"Since Heather's not here, I guess I don't have a choice."

Ali sat down on the stool and Meghan started to rummage through the supplies. She set out the fish-hook looking needle and sterile black thread. 

"You gonna watch?" Ali asked

"Well I should probably learn, although Meghan hasn't done this before so not sure if I'll learn wrong or not."

"I'll have you know I aced that class."

 

She had the white rubber gloves on and dipped the hook into the peroxide. The wound bubbled as Meghan poured the disinfectant on the opening before she started. Ali hissed through her teeth as the needle pierced the angry wound. Her knuckles went white as she gripped the counter. It only took four stitches and then Meghan tied the end off and cut it. She added more disinfectant to the now even redder lesion, before wrapping it in gauze

"Not too bad," I said, although I had nothing to base that comment on.

"Speak for yourself," Ali grunted from the pain. 

I slid the Tylenol bottle to her and she swallowed two pills dry. At this rate, we would need another bottle soon.

Meghan rounded up and tossed the used supplies,, "See, it's literally like sewing a seam, except you use a different shaped needle and generally the pants you're sewing don't jerk away."

Ali glared at Meghan's attempt as humour. I tried to hide my grin by sipping my coffee.

"Hey, I could have used super glue on it. Would you rather that?"

"I thought that was just a myth?" I asked.

"If you clean out the wound beforehand, there shouldn't be any issues. It's when there are still lots of germs in the wound that you get the infection setting in."

"Good to know."

"So are you guys going to tell us exactly what happened?" Meghan asked, clearly she had been waiting to do so.

Ali and I shared a look, neither one of us wanting to have to relive the nightmare last two day, but Ali always the gentleman, decided to recount everything to Meghan before I had the chance to. 

 

Meghan took a minute to let it all sink in, "You guys think the paramilitary guys are going to come looking for you?"

"I don't see how. They didn't follow us and we're a good distance away from Gretna." I guessed. 

There was no way to be sure, but I had this sinking feeling that Riley wasn't the type to let things go. I didn't have a chance to even think about that until now. Fear ran down my spine, its icy grip making me panic inside. Would he want revenge? The whole situation was their fault anyways, forcing us to become prisoners, but I doubt he saw it that way. Psychos never did.

"We should make a run back to Heather's gun shop to grab more ammo and to replace your weapons in case they do show up. Maybe we can get some sort of perimeter warning system going?" Meghan suggested.

"We just got back Meghan, and just lost a person yesterday. Ali is shot and Heather is MIA, I really don't think right now is the best time," I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Plus I have no idea where we would get a perimeter system."

"I didn't mean right now, and if we're lucky Heather's store will have something, if not, we look for a hunting store."

"I agree that we need more ammo and weapons, to replace the ones we lost, but after what happened to us, we shouldn't go out in groups less than three." Ali said as she tested her injured shoulder.

"So we have to wait until your shoulder is better then?" Meghan didn't seem very happy with this revelation.

She was obviously pissed about having to stay behind.

"In case you have forgotten, we're down a person and one is in no mental state to go out," I added and I seen Meghan's jaw clench at that.

"Well we should make it soon, who knows, that group could have someone skilled in tracking." Meghan said, as she roughly pushed herself away from the counter and walked outside. 

 

I let out a deep sigh. I was at a loss as to what we should do. Normally Heather was here to tell us what the best course of action was. 

"Fuck her," Ali said angrily.

I laughed. From the look Ali shot me, I'm guessing that wasn't the reaction she was expecting. 

"I said the same thing yesterday."

Ali grinned at my explanation, "What do you think we should do?"

"I know you're probably tired of hearing this, but I have no clue."

"I don't know either."

 

We decided to head outside. Tobin was at the picnic table reading and Alex and Meghan were talking quietly off to the side. As soon as Alex seen me, she broke off from Meghan and swarmed over to me. I knew where this was going and I really hated girl talk. 

"I just had to hear the whole story from Meghan!" She was pissed that he she was filled in first. I was slightly relieved that it was still about our trip, not Ali.

"We literally just told her, the gossip queen." I sent a glare in her direction.

"Jesus." That's all she had to say. 

"That about sums it up"

We sat in silence for a moment.

"So, you and Ali huh?"

I knew it was a trap!

"We kissed and then fell asleep in the hammock, it didn't go any further like i'm sure you want to hear." I recounted, leaving out some of it.

Alex just laughed, "You are wise young Sky Walker."

"I don't think that's an actual quote from the move," I raised an eyebrow

"Whatever, I prefer Star Trek anyways."

"Sacrilege!"

 

Alex's eyes darted to something behind me and I whipped around in time to see a figure emerge from the treeline. My hand instinctively went for the gun on my belt, which of course wasn't there.

"It's heather," Meghan announced.

We watched the figure grow larger. As she got closer, I noticed she had a gun with a silencer attached in her hand. This got everyone's attention. Heather didn't look like Heather. She had the look of a woman possessed. I glanced back at Meghan who must have had the same thing going through her mind. Her hand rested on her gun holster, just in case. 

I spotted the russet coloured stains that were smeared on Heather's clothing as she approached us. What the hell? Grief made people do all kinds of things; made good people do bad things. Meghan moved to pull the gun from her belt. 

"Don't you dare." I hissed at her. 

Meghan regarded me with cold eyes. The stains on Heather's clothes resembled the one's I got from the infected's blood. It wasn't human blood, much to my relief. 

"Heather?" I asked hesitantly.

Heather stopped and looked down at the gun in her hand, and then wiped her other hand on her shirt. Looking anywhere but at us, it seemed like Heather wanted to say something. I had a hard time swallowing the lump in my throat. 

Her sudden movement caught me off guard, and I flinched. Heather had sheathed her gun back into her holster, then took a deep breath.

"I ran into a couple of infected out there. They were pretty close to the property line."

I nodded, fully aware I had started to sweat from the tense situation. "I could tell from your clothes."

She looked down at her shirt and surprise registered on her face.

"Come on, you should change into something else," I urged, getting closer to Heather. 

I tentatively put my hand on her shoulder and she looked at me, "Yeah, I look a mess."

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on updates, got around to it eventually!


	27. Not So Relaxing

Two weeks later, everything was back to the way it was before. 

Except that was a lie.

Heather was still acting like a husk, not at all the Heather we were used to. I don't blame her, but it was getting too much to be around. So here I was on my own, with her car, a fair distance away from our home base. Cabin fever was starting to set in, and that, combined with the gloomy atmosphere, was becoming too overwhelming for me. 

So I volunteered to do a perimeter check and when Ali said that she would go with me, I declined her offer saying that I would be fine. She was stubborn about it, but I fought for my independence in this matter. I needed to be properly alone. The others weren't happy about it, but I think they understood. 

 

I packed the backpack I borrowed from Heather with extra ammo for my stolen 9mm gun and some food and water for my day trip, along with an extra pair of clothes and my shiny new hunting knife, just in case. I was planning on just driving around the roads that surrounded the property, to make sure that there was no signs of infected or anyone else, but I became side-tracked. There was a road that went in the exact opposite direction of the cabin that had called to me instead. After all, the perimeter thing was just a guise so that I could get away for a few hours. 

The gravel road led me to an open field, surrounded by trees. I had been driving for almost an hour, so I stopped at the opening and killed the car. The sun was shining bright above me as I climbed out of the car. Not a cloud in the sky. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I was starting to really appreciate the south, the air smelt of wildlife; the flowery fragrance of the field grass was a welcomed one.

 

As you can imagine, six people living in close quarters didn't smell all that great. I looked around for any signs of, well, anything. I was completely alone for the first time since the infection had taken over like a conquering army. I scooted myself onto the hood of the car and leaned against the windshield, my new backpack right beside me. I propped my hands behind my head, intending to fully enjoy this brief reprieve. The warm sun was making me drowsy and I let myself start to drift, listening to the sound of the wildlife. 

That was one thing that didn't seem to be affected; the ecosystem. Animals, plant life, bugs; they all seemed to be thriving, while the humans were decimated. I hoped that one day this world wouldn't end up lost to the bugs. That was an even more disturbing thought. _Didn't they say that cockroaches could survive a nuclear war?_ I stopped thinking about it, trying to push out the image of people sized cockroaches roaming the empty streets.

 

A gust of wind rustled the trees even more and I sat up, making sure it was just the wind. I was trying to relax, but fear was always waiting silently in the back of your mind. You could never lower your guard in this new world. I sank back down to the windshield, confident that it was just the wind. 

 

Meghan had been pestering us all about going back to Heather's gun shop to grab more ammo and guns. Unfortunately, Heather said she didn't have any perimeter monitoring equipment. She also showed no desire to go back to her store. We had come to the conclusion that we would go in the next few days. Ali's arm was getting better, but we still needed as many capable people as possible. So it was to be Meghan, Ali and I while Heather stayed with Alex and Tobin at the cabin.

Looking at my watch I realised that I had been sitting here for two hours. I hopped off the hood and threw my backpack into the passenger seat. I reversed out and back onto the gravel road, deciding that I should finally get around to what I had supposedly come out here for. Trees whizzed past me and the gravel was tossed up behind the car as I sped back the way i'd come. 

 

An hour later, I had been up and down the main artery that passed by the road to the cabin and it looked clear. I wasn't sure, but I could swear I saw movement in the bushes. The car came to a slow stop as I pressed on the break and hopped out. Using my hand as a shield, I blocked out the mid-afternoon sun shining down from above.  _Maybe it was my imagination._ Everything seemed still now. I shook my head and decided that maybe a drink of water was in order. 

I rummaged through my bag for my water bottle, as I started down the road again. It kept sliding away from my grabbing fingers, staying just out of reach. I sighed and turned my head towards the stupid backpack. Finally, I managed to fish my bottle out of my backpack of no return, just in time to see a body in my way. Slamming on the breaks did no good since I was on gravel and the car continued to skid forward. 

I managed to swerve to the side, only clipping the human shaped form. It went flying into the ditch as the car eventually came to a stop. Hurriedly, I rummaged through my bag for the handgun. Gripping it tightly, I got out the car leaving the engine running. Just in case I needed a quick getaway.

"Hello?" I prompted.

A moan was all I got for a response and I had no idea if that meant he was infected or just injured. I risked getting closer, peering down into the ditch. A mangled hand reached towards me, two of its fingers missing and not from the crash. The man was wearing a shredded business suit and his dingy skin was starting to bubble and blister from the unrelenting sun. He tried to crawl to me, his teeth grinding together excitedly.

I took a deep breath and stepped towards the crevasse. I had a better chance of hitting it if I was down there. The gun weight was lighter than my Bretta's were, so I had to watch how I shot this one. 

One minute the ravenous face was looking at me, the next it was face first in the grass. In one shot I had hit the top of its head, ending its climbing attempt. There was no silencer on this gun and you could tell from the echoing sound of the gun shot. 

 

The rest of the drive wasn't so pleasant. Now I was sure I had seen things moving in the trees. My knuckles were pulled taunt as I gripped the steering wheel and floored it back to the cabin, hoping it didn't take me an hour to get back.

Nowhere near soon enough, I finally turned left onto the road that lead to the cabin. Immediately having to swerve around another infected standing in the middle of the road. I heard the sound of its fingers dragging along the car as I passed, no doubt wrecking the paint job. 

More infected were lining the road and coming out of the woodwork. I felt like I was playing a driving video game, having to swerve all over the road just to avoid unwanted pedestrians. There would be no points awarded this time, just death if I managed to crash the car and have to make it through this on foot. 

I needed to get back to the cabin to warn the others, if they haven't already found out for themselves. 

"Get off the road!" I yelled to no one in particular, after yet another infected ran towards the car instead of away from it. 

One of the headlights cracked from the impact and a fair amount of dents were more than likely adoring the front grill. I gritted my teeth, my breath coming out in short spurts. Finally, I reached the gate, cursing when I remembered that I had closed it behind me. 

Except it wasn't closed. It was wide open. 

A group of infected had formed behind me, chasing after the car so I had no choice but to go forward. The closer I got to the cabin, the more I realised I should be panicking. Alex's truck was gone and I didn't spot anyone outside. Infected were everywhere; the whole property was overrun.

 

I got up to the cabin door and jumped out of the car, taking out the two that were banging on the front panels. The door banged against the wall as I burst through and slammed it shut. I looked into the two bedrooms, only to find them empty of people. The room was spinning and I realised that it was me; so I stopped my feet from going in circles. It looked like things had been hastily packed, bags and supplies were everywhere. On the floor, counter, furniture. 

It looks like, I had been left behind. I braced my hands on my knees; breathing was starting to become difficult. There was no way they would leave me behind, they just...couldn't have. Alright, I would have to keep that thought out of my mind for now. I ran to the ammo stash and threw as many of the remaining cases as I could find into a plastic Wal-Mart bag, then grabbed some of the food bags and tossed them all by the door. 

Peeking out the front window revealed that a couple more infected had made it this far up the driveway. I took a breath and flung open the front door, not wasting too much time with my aim, I managed to take the two that had just approached the car. I reached back into the cabin and grabbed the bulging plastic bags, then threw them into the back seats. 

My head whipped around as I tried to scan for signs of anyone, my eyes landing on a bobbing head just beyond the fence line; my heart sunk.

It was Tobin

 

 

 


	28. Unpopular Choice

Tobin was running wildly. All the infected in the area seemed to have honed in on her presence. The more I listened the more I could hear her screaming for help, ironically making the situation worse. She was over half the property away from me with over a dozen infected between me and her.

_leave her._

I turned towards the car, my hand on the driver's side door. But i couldn't do that. That would make me a horrible person and I cared about Tobin. I reached in and turned the engine off, but left the keys in the ignition. The last thing I needed would be for them to slip out of my pocket. I had roughly ten bullets left in my gun and one extra clip that we had found, loaded in my backpack. I fished it out and stuffed it into my pocket.

 

The door slammed louder than I hoped it would when I shut it, drawing some attention. I started my jog towards Tobin's location, using the less populated path. Luckily most of the infected's backs were facing me, all intent on getting to the crazy screaming woman.

I wanted to yell at her to stop screaming but then the attention would be focused on me and make this rescue attempt harder. Dodging the grabbing arms and confused infected, I managed to gain some ground. I really wanted to avoid using my gun until I absolutely had to, the noise would draw them to me like moths to a flame. I was too focused on in front of me that I didn't see the one bounding towards me from the side. 

We were knocked down from the collision and I rolled away as soon as I felt the grass on my skin. A badly decayed hand wrapped around my ankle, using me as leverage to pull its emaciated form closer. I tried to dislodge it by wiggling my foot, but it was on there good. 

Seeing no other option, I pulled out my gun and shot it between the eyes. Well it was more like in the upper left corner of the forehead, but it worked all the same. Dark, viscous blood sprayed onto my leg and I grimaced. The body went lax and I was able to pull my leg free.

 

All the red and milky eyes were on me. I had just rung the dinner bell with that shot. It appeared I'd also gotten Tobin's attention, as she was now sprinting towards me, Into the horde. _Shit._ I gained some speed and started to shove over all of the nearest infected, knowing I would have more success with that, than with my gun at the moment. I felt like the quarterback running the football in for a touchdown. 

"Ash!" Tobin screamed my name. 

I reached her in the middle of the chaos. She latched onto me and I had to pry her off. 

"Come on"

With her hand in mine, I led us around the infected. Steering her away from the relentless bodies, I was forced to pull out my gun. The gunfire had formed into a continuous popping succession. Bodies were dropping, but it looked like I had used all the bullets. Then more gunfire sounded off in the distance.

Tobin looked at me, us both knowing that came from one of the group. 

"Get in the driver's door!" I yelled out of breath

Tobin didn't have to be told twice as she opened the door and scrambled into the next seat. The infected that I had elbowed was by no means done. I swiped out my left leg, hitting it behind the knee. It fell back against the car again, sliding down this time, its arms flailing in the air. It reminded me of when a cartoon character would dramatically slip on a banana peel.

I hurried in after her and slammed my door behind me. Hands were grouping on the sides, looking to get it. The rest were headed right for us

"GO!" Tobin yelled 

I turned the key and the engine roared to life. 

"Seat-belt!"

Tobin quickly strapped in and so did I right before I hit reverse. The tires spun up dirt for a second before we actually started to move. The infected that had started to lean on the sides, suddenly found themselves sprawled out on the dirt path as we backed up. I had my head craned to look out the back window, once I found a path clear of infected I turned the car around. 

 

Now we were facing the open gate and numerous infected. I punched the accelerator and played yet another round of dodge-the-things-in-the-way. The seat-belt was twisted in Tobin's grip as she held the scratchy fabric between her hands. Once we cleared the gate, I chanced another look back. None of our friends could be spotted, if they were still here. There's no way Alex would leave without Tobin so she must still be out in the woods looking for her. 

Now I was torn. I hadn't seen her in the flesh, but Alex was more than likely out there somewhere. We had heard that gunshot in the distance, but in all the confusion I had no idea what direction it had even come from. I had a choice to make. Did we go back and look for her? Or do I keep going with Tobin?

I wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all.

"Tobin what were you doing out there by yourself?" I asked, once the urge to scream passed.

"I wanted to see where Heather kept going." She said. 

"So you followed her out there?"

She nodded. 

"Did you see anyone else?"

She shook her head and started to sob,

"Alex has to be back there. We have to go back!"

Tears were running down her face and she was starting to get those heavy breaths that accompanied crying.

I had to make my decision, "We can't go back Tobin. If we go any further out we will just get bogged down with the infected."

 

I knew her next move before she even had time to think it through clearly. Her hand reached for the door handle and I quickly hit the childproof lock button. She rattled the door while crying profusely.

"Let me out Ash, I have to back for her!" She wailed

"Tobin I know you're mad, but I need you to answer me. Did you see who took the truck?"

She sniffed and took in some short breaths, "I dunno, I never seen the truck leave."

 

Damn, my best guess was that Ali and Meghan were driving to who knows where, while Alex and Heather were out in the woods. Alex must have realised Tobin had sneaked off and went after her, probably getting trapped in the horde. For all I know, Heather had walked right into the horde depressed about Whit. 

I had to stop this train of thought; it was making things even harder. It was like when you heard a noise in the middle of the night and your mind immediately began picturing all the horrible things that could be waiting for you outside of your blankets.

Speculating wasn't helping; I needed to get us to safety. I now had someone other than myself to look out for. I was responsible for another human being.

"I'm getting us out of here" I announced, more for my sake. I felt like i needed to convince myself.

 

The main road that lead back to the highway was peppered with infected. I had apparently done an appalling job on my perimeter run. Maybe if I hand't left, things would have turned out differently. Maybe we would all have escaped together. Was this my fault? Guilt was gnawing away inside me, like a parasite eating its way out. 

We were flying to the left as I swerved around the remnants of a tall, male infected, who dove out in front of the car. I peered at the gas needle; it was sitting at half tank. I wasn't sure how long it would last, especially with the crazy driving I had to do. Nor did I have any idea where I was going.

Tobin had stopped her crying and was peering out the window. I slowed the car and stopped. 

Tobin turned to me, "Why did you stop? are we going back?"

"No, we're going to find somewhere to hold up until I can figure out what to do. Did anyone ever mention a muster plan?"

"A what?"

"Like a meet up place if we were to get separated?"

Nobody had said anything to me, but maybe Tobin had heard someone talking about going somewhere else. 

"No," she wore a look of intense concentration. "Wait, I forgot. When you went your supply run, we caught some words on the radio. The voice mentioned a safe place, we couldn't make it out too clearly, but I think they said something like, Hargrove?"

"Is that a town?"

"Dunno, it was real static-y"

 

I don't remember a town named Hargrove from the few times I glossed over the maps. Maybe it was a building? If it even was a safe haven.

"Did Alex or Meghan say anything about this Hargrove place?"

"Meghan said it was probably a recording."

 _Then why hadn't we heard it before? There was no need to voice my doubt and get Tobin's hopes up._ The sound of skin dragging along the glass made me jump in my seat. I turned to see an infected with its jaw missing, banging at my window, like he was bumming for change. The tendons that once held his jaw were now dangling freely, resembling discoloured spaghetti.

I started the car again, not having any idea of what the hell I was doing. It was like being back in my first year of college all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, sorry I didn't update the story yesterday I was so busy. I spent a couple of hours planning out the rest of the story instead. Secondly...is this all Ashlyn's fault? and should she have left with Tobin or went hunting for the others?


	29. Moving Day

We had been on the abandoned interstate for over an hour. I was quickly running out of options as the gas gauge continued to count down, like an executioner before he pulled the electric chair switch. The sun would eventually set and I couldn't have us out here in the open, sleeping in the car. We needed to find a house or something we could temporarily secure.

"Where we going?" Tobin spoke

I took a deep breath, "I dunno"

She shot me a look like she couldn't contemplate my level of stupidity, "Well that's helpful."

"then what does the all mighty Tobin suggest?" I retorted.

"Dunno, but just driving is stupid."

I clenched my jaw, "Okay, well how about we take the next exit?"

"And then what?"

"well we need to find a place to sleep and some food. We should keep the stuff I brought as emergency rations."

"And then what?"

I breathed through my nose, "I don't know."

"You say that a lot."

This was going nowhere. 

"Can you look in the glove box and see if Heather has a map in there?"

Tobin unlatched the box and started to rummage through the contents, "I don't see nothing."

I needed a map or something as a rough guide. Heather and to lesser extent Whit, had attempted to teach me how to map read. I wasn't too bad now. 

"That sign says Westwego, 20 miles," Tobin pointed out. 

"So I guess that's our first stop."

 

There were no signs of life on the interstate, which could be taken both ways. I recognised the stretch of road from our recent supply run and I prayed that we didn't run into the psychos from the police station. Gretna was still a good hour or two down the road, but they may be on the move. Thinking about them made me itch to turn off of the interstate. 

After a bit, we went down the turn-off, a small town greeting us. The streets were as lifeless as the interstate. A few cars lined the road leading into town. The store fronts were closed up, a few windows had been smashed in. 

Nothing moved, except for a few roaming infected. All towns had become ghost towns. It was hard to believe over three months ago, this place would have been busy with life. I turned down a residential area, side-swiping an infected in a torn apron with cats on it. None of the houses looked damaged, but it was hard to tell.

"What we doing?"

"Gonna find a house to secure for the night Gather some supplies and find a map."

"Then what?"

"try to see what this Hargrove place is Maybe it's a town or a building. It's kind of the only lead we have right now."

"Then we should get another radio too."

"Good idea." Tobin smiled at my praise like a little kid. 

 

We found ourselves in an older residential area. I pulled into a house that was somewhere in the middle of the round cul-de-sac. There was an old Ford Taurus parked in the driveway, but judging from the grime that coated it, the vehicle had been there for a while. The house looked intact; no busted windows or boarding up. I turned off the engine and peered around us. 

A straggling infected was slowly shuffling towards us. Tobin stared at me wide eyed as the decayed thing got closer. I reached into the back for my bag and pulled out my new hunting knife. 

"Stay here."

I took a deep breath to steel my nerves, and then exited the car The door clicked softly behind me. I could hear the gurgling sound the infected was making; she was maybe twenty feet away. The knife was gripped tight in my stressed fist and once again I found myself missing my Berettas with the silencers attached. 

 

The late afternoon sun was illuminating the infected from behind, so I had to squint my eyes to keep a steady eye on her. I noticed the rake that was left abandoned on the neighbour's front yard to my left. I jogged over to retrieve it and the infected followed my movement. With the claw end held up, I started towards the oncoming infected. It reached for me at the exact time I raised the rake like a bat and let it swing. The thing made a low, squealing sound as the metal pegs connected with its face. My arm shook with the force, but the infected was still flung to the ground. 

The rake, which was probably rotten from being outside this whole time, snapped in two. Wood splinters flew all around me and I was left with a short spear.  _Waste not, want not._ I twirled the broken handle so that the sharp edge was facing the ground. I stepped over the female infected and brought it down with all the force I could muster. The broken end landed roughly where her right eye was and embedded itself with a sickening suction sound. 

"That was gross." Tobin made a face as I opened the car door

"I know, stay here for a bit and watch my back. if you see a horde honk the horn and we will get outta here. I need to scope the house"

I grabbed one of the plastic bags and quickly reloaded my empty clip and added more to the one currently in the gun. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use the gun

I closed the car door and heard the lock mechanism spring into place. I had the gun in my hand as I tentatively approached the house. There was no movement inside; the curtains were left wide open. The porch stairs creaked under my feet as I approached the house. I peered in the big living room window. Still no movement inside. I tested the door and of course it was locked. 

Going back down the stairs I decided to try the back entrance. The grass was overgrown and weeds had taken over the yard from the lack of maintenance. I unlatched the lock on the gate and stepped into the backyard. It was just as overgrown as the front. Children's toys were lying all over and I had to step over the bike on the pathway.

I glanced around the fenced backyard before I stepped in any further. There were no infected, just a rusty swing set stood towards the back. The swings were moving slightly from the breeze. The house had sliding doors, so I tested them out. The glass door slid to the side and I let out a breath in relief. 

 

The inside was musty and hot from being locked up for so long. Not even a window was cracked. I stood still for a few moments, to see if I heard anything rustling. Silence. I moved towards the front door with my gun still gripped in my hands. I flipped the deadbolt in case I needed to make a quick escape.

The main floor wrapped around the whole house, so I started there with my inspection. It was clear. Next was upstairs. The old staircase groaned as I walked up to the landing.  I started with the rooms on the left and worked my way down. Sweat was running down my temples from the oppressing heat. We would have to open up some windows if we were going to be staying here tonight.

There was no rotting smell, which was always a good sign. A body, stuck in this heat would have stunk up the whole house. All the rooms were clear; I even made sure to check the closets. The main bedroom was in disarray, as if they had left in a hurry. There was a boy's room that was a complete sty, but I assumed that had nothing to do with the infection. 

 

I ran back down the stairs to grab Tobin from the car. 

"Come on" I said when I opened the back door to the car. 

Together we lugged in the few bags we had, which wasn't much. I locked the door behind us and closed the curtains throughout the house. I decided to open some windows upstairs to let the breeze in. We plunked down the bags in the middle of the living room. 

"Are we going to sleep here?" Tobin looked up at me

"Yeah, later i'll drag the couch in front of the door and push the table up against the back doors. Maybe we can drag a mattress down here so we can stay on the main floor."

"Are we going into town?"

I am, do you want to come with me or stay here?"

"I think I need to experience this new life, i can't keep expecting you to protect me all the time. I will come with you" Tobin said looking unsure. 

"Ok, fine. But you have to stay right behind me and do as I say, you won't have time to hesitate."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, there will be no update tomorrow i'm afraid. I will try get two chapters uploaded on Friday to make up for it.


	30. Day Trip

I rooted through the keys in the decorative bowl by the front door and found another set that opened the doors. It also looked like it had the spare one for the Taurus. During our exploration of the house, we found a fair amount of supplies. When the owners had left, they had only packed like they were going on a trip. The medical cabinet was still full, so I emptied the contents into one of our bags. 

I had seen a general store on the main drag when we entered the town. It was only like a five minute drive from our hideout, but I decided that walking would be better since the engine noise would attract unwanted attention. So on foot it was. That would limit what we could get, although the only thing high on my list was a map.

We would grab some food to add to the dried and canned goods we had found in the house. There was a full flat of water bottles in the pantry which was probably the best find so far. Also, I wanted to see if there was a hardware store on the main drag so that I could see about some more guns and ammo. 

"I miss Alex," Tobin blurted out, bringing me out of my planning mode.

"I miss her too, and the others."

"Think we'll find them?"

"I hope so."

"I told Ali about the recording as well you know." 

I perked up. That was the best news I'd heard in a while. 

"When did you mention it to her?"  _More importantly, why had she not mentioned it to me? Was I the only one who didn't get any information told to them?_ This irked me to no end. 

"A few days ago when I remembered about it. She said Meghan was probably right about it being a recording and all that"

"This is very good news."

"Why? Think they'll go there?"

"I hope so, it's the only lead we all have in common. I just need to figure out what Hargrove is."

Tobin hopped up, "I seen a radio in the kitchen."

I listened to her run across the living room and pad around in the kitchen. Tobin returned with an old fashioned radio that had a dull, silver antenna sicking up. 

"It runs on batteries," She announced. "see, no cord."

 

She held the thing up proudly then plunked it down on the coffee table. We gathered around as the room was filled with the hissing of the radio frequency. Slowly, she turned the channel dial. After a few minutes, it became apparent that no miracle recording would pop up and say "Hey you, go to this address. Here are the directions."

Tobin scowled at the radio once the knob had reached its last channel. I sighed, 

"Looks like we're on our own. But do you remember what channel it was on when you heard it?"

"No, but I scanned through them like this last time."

That means it wasn't a recording, which meant someone was making announcements and you had to be alive to do that. Maybe there were lots of people there. Maybe there would finally be some order and even answers. I had to stop form getting too ahead of myself. Hope was a powerful thing, especially when it was crushed. 

I wondered how far a radio signal could carry. Too bad I didn't have google to ask. The chances are that whatever this Hargrove place was, it wasn't too far. I guess we shouldn't go barrelling down the interstate too far away after all. I stood up suddenly. 

"Ok, let's get this trip over with."

Tobin nodded sternly and flicked off the radio. Silence filled the room once again. I made sure we had eaten and drank some water before we left so we had the energy we needed. I was nervous putting the gun in the back of my pants line, like they always do in the movies, but I saw no other option. The safety was on, I made sure of that. With my new aluminium bat in hand, we left the house through the back yard. 

 

There was no gate leading to the back alley behind the house, so I placed a patio chair by the dark brown fence to use to hop over. I also tossed one on the other side so we could get back over. I helped Tobin over and down, then jumped myself. The ground was hard and unforgiving, making my ankles sting from the impact. 

"You ok?" Tobin asked, concerned that I had already injured myself. 

"I think i'll live. Now keep an eye out and stay right beside me."

 

I grabbed the plastic chair I had tossed over and pushed it up against the back of the fence. We started our walk down the dirt path that doubled as a back alley. If we kept going West, we would get back to the avenue that leads to the Main Street. The breeze was rolling around stray garbage, making me tense from all the noise of the rustling. Tobin was practically glued to my side, both of her hands knotted around the straps of her backpack. 

I gripped my unused bat tight in my hand; my gun would have to be last resort. Our feet scrapped along the dirtied path and our breathing was laboured. Being out in the open like this made me feel naked and scared. I didn't like it. I heard the rasping before I seen it. Tobin gasped and grabbed onto me. 

An infected was reaching towards us, a mixture of bodily fluids were running down its face. The things ratty coat was snagged on a board that had dislodged from a fence. I lead Tobin as far away from the grabbing hands as the alley would manage. 

"Do we just leave it there?" Tobin said, just barely above a whisper. 

"It's stuck, no point wasting time."

Finally, I spotted the paved road at the end of the alley. I peered out. There were two infected stumbling in the middle, aimlessly wandering. 

"Stay right beside me," I said again for emphasis.

We took a right and jogged down the sidewalk; old habits die hard I guess. Both heads turned towards us and they started in our direction. 

"They're coming," Tobin panicked. She latched her hand onto my shirt, griping the fabric. 

"Tobin, you have to let go."

I had to pry her fingers from my clothing. I couldn't have her weight holding me back if I had to take out those two. She reluctantly let go and the fabric was wrinkled from where she had held onto it. I grabbed her hand with my free one and dragged her along. There was no way I should waste time with those two. 

We kept up a good pace and soon the two infected were just a figure on the horizon. They would undoubtedly catch up to us, but I would have to deal with that later. One more right turn and we would come out to the main street. I pushed us up against the corner of the first building and peeked around it. The street was lined with shops on both sides, the angled parking in front was empty except from an old Chevy and a newer Buick.

I did a rough count and came up with eight visible infected. I'm sure there were more hiding all over. The general store was housed right in the middle on the left side of the street; the building was bigger than all the rest. It's pointed front sign stood up above the rest of the roofs. The hardware store was further down from us on the right side, which is the side we're currently on. I turned back to Tobin. 

"Ok, here's what we're gonna do. We're going to go to the hardware store first, then hit up the general store on our way back. We're going to follow the sidewalk and you're going to stay right by my side."

 

All the infected seemed to be congregating to the left, leaving the right side clear for now. As soon as they heard us, that would change. So the route to the hardware store was the best option. Tobin nodded at my directions. 

I took a deep breath. "ok, let's go."

We turned the corner, Tobin to my right so that I was on the side closest to the road. I had us hunch down so that we attracted as little attention as possible. There was an infected slumped up against one of the buildings, his legs blocking the sidewalk. I put a hand out to stop Tobin.

"Hold up"

I handed her my bat and I unsheathed my hunting knife I had stuck in my pocket. The thing looked like it wasn't moving as I approached it with caution. I peered around and the others still hadn't clued into out presence, thankfully. Using the tip of my knife, I poked the think in its temple. The head slouched to the side, away form me. It was truly dead. 

I motioned for Tobin to come to me and she hurried over. She stared wide-eyed at the thing the whole time; I had to tug her hand to get her moving again. We hurried along and reached the hardware store. I pulled on the silver handle and the door opened. I held it ajar and peered inside. The only light was coming from the giant display windows, but it was enough to illuminate the small store.

I ushered Tobin in and closed the door gently behind us. 

"What's that smell?" Tobin grimaced as she covered her nose. 

I scrunched up my own nose as the odour reached me. That could only be one thing. There was a dead body in here and it had been in here for a while. 

"Stay here." I pointed to the spot she was standing on.

 

I took my bat back from her and moved to the far left. I quickly peered down four aisles made from metal grate shelves; it wasn't a big store. It looked clear, so I had Tobin come over to me. The glass and wood sales counter lined the back wall and behind it were empty gun racks. Shit. The shelf that had held the ammo boxes was almost picked clean as well.

There was a white door behind there labelled 'Employees only'. I lifted up the counter top that doubled as a door so we could get behind the counter. Various shells littered the floor; I could feel them under the sole of my shoes. The decaying smell was getting even stronger and I had to lift the collar of my shirt over my nose. Tobin's eyes were watering from the smell. I held up my hand for her to stop.

"Stay behind the counter and yell if you see something."

I had a hunch that something nasty was waiting for us behind this door, judging by the smell. Once I made sure she was out of eye-shot, I went to turn the door handle. The smell hit me like a physical thing. I turned to the side, unable to stop the contents of my stomach from coming up. Once I was done heaving, I straightened back up, desperately wanting mouthwash. Tobin was as far away as she could get while still being behind the counter. 

I breathed through my mouth as I opened the door further, allowing in as much light as I could. Death was all that greeted me.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I decided to upload two chapters today since I can't upload any new chapters tomorrow. Still planning on getting two uploaded on Friday as well.


	31. The Butcher

Of all the things I had done. Of all the things I had seen. This was beyond the worst I could imagine. Just thinking about it hurt.  _Is this what humanity had come to?_ _Is this what we're reduced to?_ This sight would haunt me for the rest of my life. It wasn't an infected feeding on some poor sap. It wasn't a group of infected trapped back here. No, it was much worse.

Scrawled on the back wall in dried blood, blotted with finger prints, were the words  _And Like Him We Too Shall Rise._ In front of that, a scene pulled from the crime section of a newspaper looked back at me. Two small children were decaying on the ground, a hole adorning each of their foreheads. Next to them was the badly rotted body of a woman with a matching bullet wound, a bible clutched in her dead hands. Across from them, slumped to the side, was a male figure with a fallen handgun at his side. The wall behind him was stained with blood and brain matter. 

I stood there frozen, unable to move. Why? The only word echoing in my head. 

"What is it?"

"Stay there!"

Whatever was in my voice had Tobin stop in her tracks. I quickly shut the door, wishing I could scrub the image from my brain. Nothing could prepare you for something like that. I rubbed at my eyes; maybe I could force the image out. 

"What was it?"

"Drop it, Tobin."

And to my surprise she did. I floundered for a moment, the shock throwing me off. I turned to the shelf and tried to distract myself by searching for 9mm ammo. I managed to find a box and a half, but all he guns were cleaned out.

 _Except for the handgun in there._ my brain cruelly reminded me. There was no way I was going back in that room, it wasn't worth it. And i'm sure it would be considered bad luck using that gun. A shadow passed over us as an infected crossed in front of the display window. 

"Hold still" I whispered. 

We both froze hoping the thing would move on. It turned its head towards the window, tilting slightly, as if curious. With jerky movements, the infected continued on shuffling past the window. I swallowed loudly. We needed to cut our losses and get to the general store, which would mean taking out those infected. 

Did I risk the gun for that? Or try to take them out melee style? With that many, a gun seemed like the easiest way to take them out. But that meant the noise, so we would have to hurry in the store in case more infected showed up. 

We left the counter behind and started back through the aisles. I handed Tobin the aluminium bat. It was light and not too big. I had spotted an axe on our way down the aisles, so I decided to upgrade. The axe was heavier, but manageable. It would do more damage than the bat that's all that mattered. 

 

I couldn't wait to leave this building, I was itching for it. I looked out the window and spotted the infected that had passed by. He was just slightly to the right of the building. I would have to take him out first. 

"Tobin, I'm going to get you to hold the door open. If anything happens or an infected comes near you, close it ok?"

"What about you?" She looked at me with concerned eyes.

"I will be fine, I can out run this few infected. If that happens, I will lead them away and come back you, understand?"

She nodded, I opened the door and she gripped it tight to hold it open. The infected turned its head towards me and made a gurgling sound as he approached me. Its foot was bent at an odd angle, so he limped towards me rather slowly. I wound up the axe and let it swing, as I used my forward momentum to take it out. The blade landed in the things' neck. No blood spurted out and I could see the spinal column once I yanked the axe free. 

With its arms still reaching for me, the infected fell backwards. I assumed the noises it was making meant it was angry, but I didn't give it time to get back up again. I placed my foot on its chest and brought the axe down. The head came clean off and rolled to the right of the body. To make it eve more grotesque, the head was still snapping away. 

What was left of the rotten teeth, were clanging together in rage. I flipped the axe in my hand and brought the blunt side down on the severed head. The forehead caved in like a cracked egg and then the snapping sound stopped. I whipped the axe around, trying to dislodge some of the blood and skin from the blade. 

The other roaming infected seemed oblivious to what just happened, which was fine with me. I pulled the handgun from my waistband and clicked off the safety. The infected were spread out, making for good target practise. But I needed my aim to be spot on, so that they didn't all start to come after me when I fired. 

I propped up the axe against the tail gate of the old Chevy and started towards the nearest infected, Using both hands to aim, I took the first shot. It rang true and the infected dropped like a stone. Then all heads were turned to me. I took out the next closest, but I would have to get closer to get the rest.

 

They all started to shuffle towards me and I walked towards them. I felt like a crazy person, heading towards the danger rather than running from it. I also felt pretty stupid as I basically ran around them in circles, picking them off one by one. Ten shots later and I was surrounded by slain bodies. My breathing was ragged from the exertion and adrenaline, my arms limp by my side. My chest heaved as I peered down at my morbid handy work.

I looked like the sole survivor of a bomb blast, surrounded by all the fallen corpses. Tobin poked her head out from the doorway and I waved her out. She ran to me faster than I would have thought possible. I gathered up my axe and we silently headed to the general store.

"We have to make this quick. There was no way that noise wouldn't attract more. Remember we need a map"

I ejected the empty clip and slipped in a full one. Cupping my hands around my eyes, I peered into the general store window. There didn't seem to be any movement, but I could only see so far. As I opened the front door, the bell hanging above it chimed, signalling our entrance. I gritted my teeth as my ears pricked up at the sound of movement coming from one of the furthest aisles.

Tobin was right behind me, gripping her bat like she was ready to swing. I just hope I wasn't too close when she did. I readied my axe as the sound got louder. Stepping towards the aisle, I could see a rather large, masculine infected wearing a shopkeeper's apron. It was torn and dirty, just like the rest of him. His beard was patchy around his emaciated face. 

I heard Tobin gasp behind me. The thing regarded me with interest, almost like he was savouring his prey. It was eerie. 

I'd had enough of this. Enough of waiting to be attacked. 

Letting out my own yell, I ran for him and swung with everything I had. The axe blade embedded in the infected's massive chest with a hollowed thud and he let out a hiss as he was knocked back from the impact. The shelf behind him shook with the force and started to teeter. 

Products on the shelf started to fall into the aisles, like they were abandoning ship. The axe was still embedded in his chest, so I lifted up my foot and used him as leverage to yank the axe free. His arms tried to reach for me, but he was thrown further back from the momentum. This time, the shelf decided to tip completely. I watched as the metal shelving toppled to the side, falling into the next one. All four shelves had fallen over, like dominoes, except much louder.

I quickly turned back, worried that Tobin had been squished. She had made herself as small as possible and was wedged safely in the corner by the front door. I looked back to see the infected lying on top of a pile of products, beside the now angled shelf. It reached for me again, as if I would just come to him.

So I did just that.

I brought the axe down again and again. Thick, congealed blood sprinkled everywhere. Pieces of skin and cartilage were flying around, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. I kept swinging that axe, long after the infected had stopped moving. 

_Anger._

_Its all your fault._

_Frustration._

_Its not fair._

_Sadness._

_We are all doomed._

With a strangled cry, I let it all loose on this thing. Faintly, the sound of the blade clanging against the linoleum floor reached my ears, By the time my arm stilled, I was out of breath from the effort. My arms burned from the sudden use of so much force. I had to lean a hand against the wall for support as I caught my breath. 

Catching a glimpse of my reflection in a cooler glass door made me cringe. Head to toe I was covered in blood and skin clumps. I wiped at the mess on my face, using my sleeve as a rag. When I say the infected was now in pieces, I meant it. He was splattered all over his store and wouldn't be getting back up again. It looked like a massacre and I was the butcher. 

Tobin shouldn't have seen that. I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I felt like a monster.

_Lizzie Borden took an axe..._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's a bit short and boring, it's near impossible to make every chapter action packed. Stories need a few chapters to build up to something, consider this one of them.


	32. I Come With Baggage

I swallowed nervously as I turned to Tobin. Her stare said more than words ever could. She looked terrified of me; Like she was worried I needed a next victim. 

"It's clear now," was all I managed to croak out. 

It took a few seconds before Tobin tore herself from the corner. 

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

She looked at me for a second and then nodded. "I'll be fine."

I should really give her more credit. 

I managed to get a lot of the surface goop off, but my clothes were pretty much trash at this point. Still, I tried to get most of it off. 

"Do you think we'll be able to dig through this?" Tobin asked, as she bent down by some fallen goods. 

"I don't think we have time for that, just the essentials."

 

I continued down the aisle, aiming for the non-food items that looked like they were at the back of the store. I heard Tobin un-zip her backpack and shove some stuff in. 

"Stay close," I prompted and she ran to me as she slipped her pack on again.

The back of the store had some skylights, which was rather lucky, considering the sun from the display windows didn't reach back here very well. The back shelves were out of the line of fire and were still upright. 

This place was pretty picked over. Gaping holes adorned the shelves where product should have been. I slipped off my backpack and started stuffing in soap and a few other hygiene items. Clearly I would need that tonight.

"Look!" Tobin exclaimed and grabbed for my axe that I had set down. 

She was pointing at a white metal, spinning rack. Maps. And there was still some left, I hurried over and patted Tobin's back. 

"Nice find Tobes."

"Ewww you didn't get that stuff on my shirt did you?" She wiped at the back of her shirt.

"Now you can smell like me," I managed a small grin and her face scrunched up. 

 

There was one map of Louisiana left and a couple of different local maps. And they were laminated ones too. I quickly stowed them safely into my backpack. Now, that meant we could grab what we wanted. They had a small pharmacy area that had been picked clean, but I scavenged some gauze, Benadryl and basically everything I could. To my surprise they had some generic clothing as well. This really was a general store.

I found a grey hoodie, sweat pants and some V-neck T-shirts, which I rolled up and stuffed into my bulging bag. I guess when shit hit the fan all those months ago, people weren't looking for clothes. We went back to the food area and grabbed what we could still reach. In less than ten minutes we had gathered a collection of canned and packaged goods; nothing that would be considered particularly nutritious though. I had spotted some of those reusable mesh bags and we each filled one to carry. We creeped back to the front of the store. New infected had appeared further down the main drag. Right where we needed to go. 

"Shit."

"What?"

"The infected have already started to migrate here."

There were only three that I could see, but I was willing to bet more were on their way.  _How was I going to pull this off?_

"Alright, you really have to stay by me this time."

"I've stayed by you the whole time." Tobin shot me a droll look. 

I gave the bag on my shoulder one more heave for good measure and tore down the stupid silver bell above the door. The last thing we needed was literally a dinner bell to ring. I bid this place fucking ado and tore through the door. We kept up a brisk walk, not wanting to tire out in case we really did have to run. I directed us away from the few infected that started to stroll down the main road.

Rounding the corner to the building on the edge of the street again, I ran into a group of infected, immediately stopping and twirling to the side. Using the few seconds of confusion to my advantage, I grabbed the strap of Tobin's backpack and yanked her to me and basically pulled her around the infected. They started after us, some moving faster than the others. 

"I think we're going to have to run some."

I picked up my pace, making sure Tobin was right beside me. I spotted the alley entrance we needed just a bit down, but proving with my theory that the universe was out to get me, it was blocked by a good few infected. Basically there was infected behind us and in front of us. The street was beginning to become saturated with them.

"Ash, i'm scared." 

Even she could see how screwed we were. 

"We're almost at the alley."

I didn't have the time or the capacity to make meaningless reassurances at the moment. I jerked to a stop a few meters from the alley, planning on using my axe again. The bag I was carrying slid off my shoulders and scratched down my arm, leaving angry red welts in its wake. I suppose it was heavy enough to use as a weapon. 

I tossed my axe towards the infected guarding the alley entrance and they peered down at it as it clanged to the ground. 

"You just threw your weapon away!" Tobin screeched. 

"No I didn't"

I ran to the infected and swung my heavy, filled to the brim bag at the first one. I had the odd urge to yell  _this is my purse_ at them as I brandished the bag like a weapon. Maybe I was starting to lose my mind. The infected went flying into the other two and they all fell down in a mass of limbs. A few cans popped out the top, but I didn't bother retrieving them.

"Come on!" I yelled as I bent to pick up the axe I had thrown. 

Tobin ran to me, her bags jerking up and down. The alley had more infected lying in wait for us and the others had started to catch up and were now pouring into the alleyway after us. I used my axe to poke at the ones that got too close, having to stop only once to take one out that was directly in front of us. I couldn't afford to get bogged down.

The house we were aiming for loomed in the distance.

"I see it!" Tobin huffed. 

I had to crack open the skull of one female infected blocking the fence we needed. I thanked my past self for having the foresight to toss a chair over. My brain must have been working overtime. Using all of my reserved strength, I tossed my heavy bag over the pointed fence, then Tobin's.

"Hurry!" Tobin yelled. 

I had to knock back an infected that had snuck up on me with the butt of my axe. Seeing no other option, I stomped my heel down on the middle of its skull. A flash of memory shot through my brain, reminding me of the time Meghan did that and how disgusted I was.

Tobin climbed onto the chair and I gave her a boost. Her leg and arm latched over the ragged boards at the same time, I was steam rolled by an infected. I heard her scream as I hit the ground, shoving at the body trying to tear into me. Drool and foul breath hit me, but I was able to shove it to the side. I scrambled to pull the hunting knife from my pants.

By the time the knife was clear of the sheath, the infected had crawled back to me. I shoved it back and rolled on top of it, rearing up to bring the knife down. It landed in the things mouth and went out through the back of its head. It gargled for a bit, and then stopped moving. I hopped up and seen that Tobin was no longer on the fence. She must have got down the other side. 

I jumped up on the chair and threw my backpack and axe over. I don't know where the strength came from this time, but I was able to pull myself up enough with my arms that I could hook my legs over. My pants snagged on the pokey fence when I brought my other leg over, tearing right down the seam. This made me lose my balance and I toppled the rest of the way down, landing on my side. Pain shot up my whole right side, especially in my elbow, which I had sticking out as I flailed down. I quit breathing as the pain made my eyes water. I had to force my lungs to start again, praying that nothing was broken. 

Wheezing, I managed to sit up. New pain shot down my body. I was able to focus long enough to stand up and spot Tobin. Dragging my backpack onto my screaming shoulder, I went to usher her into the house. 

"Ash," She said weakly. 

I looked down at her. She was clasping her left arm tightly and bright, red blood was pouring from her arm, staining her clothes and dripping onto the grass. 

_Oh god._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter today, as I promised on Wednesday


	33. Restrained

Her face was paler than I had ever seen it, she was probably in shock. I ran to her.

"Oh god, oh god," I started to panic. 

I tried to lift her upright to see how bad it was, but as soon as I did, blood started to spurt anew. It looked bad; out of my realm bad. It was deeper than any cut I had ever gotten. That fucking, splintering fence must have sliced her arm open when she fell.

"Let's get inside." I had to really focus to keep the panic out of my voice.

"Am I going to be ok?" Tobin's eyes were glossy. 

"Of course." I had no way of knowing that.

We had left a bloody trail all the way to the door. My hand slipped on the sliding door handle from all the blood that coated it; I had to wipe it off on my already ruined pants. This was too much blood. I flung the door open and set her down on the kitchen chair. I started to pull open all the drawers searching for a towel. After I tried all of them, I finally opened the right one.

I forced Tobin's hand away and shoved the sunflower print tea towel on the bleeding wound. 

"It hurts!" Tobin screamed and I'd never felt so powerless. 

"I know it's sore but you have to push on this as hard as possible. I'm going to run upstairs and grab something."

I ran off before she could protest. I flew up the stairs and into the little boy's room. He had to own a belt that I could use as a tourniquet. I threw open and rummaged through his dresser, clothes flying everywhere. I found a faux leather one that would work, so I ran back down the stairs in a flurry. 

"I'm going to tie this around your arm ok? It will help stop the blood so I can treat it."

I looped my arm under hers and latched the belt, tightening it just past the elbow. 

"OW!" She flailed, but I tugged it as tight as it could go. 

"I know it hurts Tobin, but this will stop the bleeding." I pleaded with her.

"See it's working!" I pointed out. "Now this next bit will hurt, i'm sorry."

I ran to the living room where the stuff we grabbed from the medicine cabinet was. There was a brown bottle of peroxide that I needed. Tobin was going to hate this. I made a mess of our bags as I rooted through them to grab the bottle. Once I got back to the kitchen, I took out the gauze we pilfered from the general store. 

all this was going to do was disinfect the wound. It was deep enough that she needed stitches and there was no way I could do that.

_Superglue_

Meghan taught me about that when she was patching up Ali's arm. I had spotted a tube when I was going through the kitchen drawers. I went back to the various open drawers and found the rolled up tube of superglue. This would have to do. I took a deep breath, realising i'd more than likely have to hold her down. 

"Tobin, I need you to lie on the floor."

"Why?"

"I can't put the disinfectant on properly unless the arm is flat out," I lied through my teeth.

She looked at me hesitantly, so I tried to hurry her along. I helped her to the floor and she sprawled out. Every-time I reached for the wound, she tried to move her arm away. Human instinct I guess, to avoid pain as much as possible. 

I kneeled down beside her with all my supplies. "Tobin i'm not going to lie, this will hurt but we have to kill all germs in the wound or you'll get an infection."

She tried to move away from me again, "Wait-"

Before she could finish, I placed my knee on her upper forearm to hold it in place and poured some of the clear liquid onto the wound She thrashed wildly and screamed like I was the one who did it. I kept my hold on her arm with my knee and used my other hand to hold the lower part steady.

The wound hissed and bubbled as the peroxide ate away the germs that had embedded themselves in there. I wiped away the white bubbles and blood with another clean towel I had grabbed. Then poured on more peroxide directly into the wound this time. She kicked and jerked even harder, but I was stronger and used my weight to keep her arm in place. 

The bleeding had slowed immensely and I took that as a good sign. Her breathing was laboured from all the fighting against me and screaming. 

"Please...just stop." She pleaded. 

I noticed the fight leaving her. I felt like an abuser. The worst person in the world. 

Finally, after another round of peroxide, the fizzing stopped and it no longer reacted to the wound. This was a guess on my part, but I think that meant the disinfectant had done its job. Now was time for the glue. I poured the peroxide on my fingers and scrubbed it in, I needed them to be sterile. 

The lid was stuck to the top of the tube, so I had to use the towel for leverage to twist it off. The smell of vinegar reached my nose once the lid came off. 

"Is it over?" She sounded so defeated. 

"Almost, I just have to make sure the wound closes."

I dabbed a fair amount on my finger tip and spread it slightly in the wound. 

Tobin started screaming and kicking again as I aggravated the sore wound. 

Once I figured I got enough in there, I pinched the two sides of the cut together. 

"FUCK! STOP!" She was so loud, that I had to take feelings out of the equation. 

I shoved my free hand over her mouth to smother her screams. 

The look in her eyes said it all; traitor. 

She continued to jerk and scream against my hand. I could feel the vibrations against my palm. All the windows were open along with the back door and those things at the back fence didn't need to be spurred on. I released the wound and it didn't reopen. The glue had worked. 

I took my hand off her mouth, "I'm just going to put some gauze around it and it will be done."

As soon as I removed my knee, Tobin shuffled away from me, cradling her bandaged arm. The collar of her shirt was stained with tears and her clothes were matted in blood. 

I looked down at the mess I had made. The white tiles were stained with blood and peroxide. dirty towels and opened supplies surrounded me. I felt awful, but it had to be done.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last update of the day. Tried to get as many boring parts out of the way in one day as possible.


	34. Devoured

Tobin huddled away from me as much as possible, like a kicked puppy. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and started to clean up the mess, trying to distract myself from what just happened. I Left out all the supplies on the table; I would need to re-dress the wound tomorrow. Tobin got up and stomped off, through the living room and up the stairs without saying a word. 

I didn't blame her, I'd handled that poorly, but what was I to do? I had no idea how to treat a wound of that magnitude, let alone on someone who wouldn't hold still. I could sit here and try to justify my actions, but the truth was I should never be responsible for helping other people. My side groaned in pain as I moved about. After all that, I was sure my elbow wasn't broken, just really sore. 

 

The sun was going down fast, like it was in a hurry to get to its evening plans. I didn't hear banging on the wooden fence anymore; although, there was still movement and moaning in the alley. Maybe the infected had forgotten why they were here in the first place, or had just given up. Bottom line was that they were still out there. Right in our own backyard took a whole new meaning. 

I felt numb at this point; or too much, I couldn't tell the difference. My mind wasn't coping well with the events of this past day. I was running on autopilot, but unfortunately it wasn't a very good program. I felt the way you did when you came to the end of a particularly good book and now didn't know what to feel. Lost. Heartbroken. Empty.

I stumbled to the back doors. In the rush of everything, I had forgotten to close them. The setting sun shone through the spaces in the fence, making the yard appear stripped. Our bags were still laying on the grass, odd items thrown all around the mesh totes. I walked over and started to shove them back in, very aware of the sound of bodies moving slowly on the other side of the fence.

My task became harder as my vision started to Blur. Tears were dropping onto my hands, like little liver spots, as I picked up the various cans and boxes. Pain bloomed in my chest. What had I done? I wanted to scream, I wanted to yell into the sky a slew of curse words in every language, I wanted to disappear. I gripped the can in my hand and wound my arm back to throw it like I was a pitcher for the MLB.

But I couldn't. Everything I did put us in danger. I lowered my arm in defeat, and then stood up; the bag I was holding flopped over to the side. I started lashing out at the air all around me, like I was a kid throwing a fit; in a way, that's exactly what I was. I needed to inflict pain, so that mine felt small in comparison. I wanted the world to know how shitty I felt.

I picked up my discarded axe and started to whack at the ground with it. Chunks of grass and dirt leapt like grasshoppers fleeing for their lives from the uneven hole I was making. My body was starting to become heated from my spectacle; I must have looked like a raging lunatic. With a deep breath, I tried to centre myself. I dropped the axe and dipped down to pick up the bags. With one in each hand, I walked back over to the house.

I threw the heavy totes inside and their contents rolled all over the floor like a glass of spilt milk. Except milk wouldn't have made that much noise. The infected started to scrape along the fence, alerted by the banging sound. 

_Fuck it, let them devour me._

We were all doomed to be food for the worms sooner or later. Why not end it now? I could hear growling coming from the crowd; some had started to lightly bang on the fence. They didn't realise they were powerless to knock over their obstacle with their decaying arms like dried tree branches. But they were powerful enough to take down this world; the irony was almost too much.

Dead, infected people owned this place now. They marched into the streets like all the armies before them, except they didn't discriminate. We were all fair game. All races, all colours, all genders. We were all equally screwed.

I slid down the rough outside panelling of the house, resting my head in my hands and wept. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, looks like Ash is struggling


	35. A New Dawn

I managed to get my sobbing under control. The streaks of my tears were drying on my face, making the skin feel dehydrated. Once I shed my last tear for myself, I decided that was enough. Using the house as leverage, I pushed myself back to my feet and wandered back inside. My little episode had made the pain in my elbow come back with a vengeance and the side I had landed on, screamed at me for my stupidity.

 

The kitchen was starting to fill up with shadows; later all we had to keep them at bay were the camping lanterns we found while searching the house. I wiped my face, embarrassed by my behaviour. Not only had I made a fool of myself, I got the infected all worked up right outside the fence. At least they seemed to have calmed down again for the time being. 

I tip-toed outside for my axe; it was now covered in blood and grass. Once back inside, I flipped the lock on the sliding doors and overturned the kitchen table up against them. If something or someone wanted inside, they would have to work for it. I made sure that the front door was dead bolted and pushed the couch in front of it. My injured elbow made it difficult. The sound of legs scraping across the hardwood floor echoed in the house; grooves appeared behind the trail. At least I didn't have to worry about repairing the damage. 

Darkness was starting to set in and it made me nervous. This would be the first night without the others. I din't have them to depend on, I only had myself. I found I missed them dearly. We were our own family, looking out for one another. Yet they had abandoned me. Or did I abandon them? I didn't want to believe that anyone had left anyone behind. Maybe things would have been different if I had stayed behind, maybe they would have turned out exactly the same. There was no way to tell now.

All that mattered was surviving and finding our dysfunctional family.

I started to clean up the mess I had made in the living room when I had torn through the bags looking for peroxide. Heading back into the kitchen, I went to grab my backpack to sort out. As I rummaged through my backpack, some items fell to the floor; the pink Benadryl package being one of them.

There was no way Tobin was going to get any sleep tonight, not with what had happened and all the pain she must be in. I rooted through the kitchen cabinets for an opaque glass, and then twisted the top off of a water bottle. Using the blunt end of a butter knife, I crushed up two of the small, pink tablets. I mixed the powder with the water, hoping she would drink it and get some much needed sleep. I grabbed a couple granola bars as well as some over-the-counter painkillers. 

I walked quietly up the stairs, like when I used to tiptoe into the house after going out to a bar. I found Tobin lying on the boy's bed with her back to me. She was sniffing softly. 

"Tobes, I know you're mad but you need to eat and drink something." I said, my voice barely above a whisper. 

She ignored me so I just remained in the doorway. Eventually she turned to me, glaring the whole time. As she stood up, she put out her hand for the items. I passed her the glass and she started to chug the contents as I opened the bars for her. With her arm out of commission, she would need some help.

Tobin passed me back the almost empty glass and tore into the first granola bar. After everything that happened, I'm surprised I wasn't just as famished. 

"Here, I brought you something for the pain."

She eyed me warily as she chewed her second bar. I passed her two of the white pills and the glass back. She was smart enough to see that she needed the pills and took them without hesitation. She turned away from me, back to the bed.

I guess I had been dismissed. I hoped she would eventually see that what I did was for her own good. Although, that didn't look like it would be anytime soon. Maybe if she could forgive me, I could forgive myself. 

I went back down the hall into the main bedroom to find something to sleep in. The husband's large shirts would do. I grabbed a clean white one and the comforter from the bed and headed back downstairs. Even though I badly needed sleep, I would still have to be on alert. I could hear better if I was on the main floor. 

I also needed to wash up somehow. You never realise how dependent you are on everyday things until they're forcefully taken from you. I didn't think the shower would work in the house and there was no well like Alex's cabin. When I was clearing our supplies, I remembered the wipes we'd scavenged from the store. 

It took a whole 12-pack, but I was able to get the grime off of my skin. I placed my ruined clothes in a plastic bag and threw them in the kitchen garbage. I could smell the heavy baby powder scent clinging to me, but it beat the smell of rotten meat any day. 

I lit up the lantern and the soft glow brightened the room. I made up my bed on the couch, which currently doubled as a brace against the door. Setting out my weapons within reach, I laid down. My stomach growled, finally catching up to all the exertion from today. 

 

I gnawed on a granola bar and some trail mix to appease my hunger. I would kill for some fresh food right now, but canned peaches would have to do. Luckily we had found a can opener in one of the kitchen drawers earlier, otherwise the canned food would be useless. I would undoubtedly butcher the can if I tried to use my hunting knife. After I had stuffed my face, I wobbled back to the couch, dimming the light on the lantern. 

Wariness was in my bones. My body was exhausted and my mind wasn't in the best shape either. Didn't people say things always look better in the morning? somehow, I doubted that would be the case tonight. But as soon as I closed my eyes, sleep took me. 

 

I woke to the sun pouring through the off-white lace curtains. They didn't do a very good job of blocking the light out and they were hideous to boot. I had no idea what time it was, but judging from the stiffness of my body, I had laid in this one position for hours. Everything popped and cracked as I sat up; I felt like i'd aged twenty years. 

I had meant to go check on Tobin before I fell asleep, so I headed upstairs first. I found her breathing deeply, still fast asleep in the boy's transformer sheets. Apparently he had been a fan. I went to the bathroom and examined myself in the mirror. My elbow and a good chunk of my right arm were bruised, as was my side. The elbow was also slightly swollen. 

I peered at the tub and tried the faucet just to see what would happen. The pipes groaned in the walls, but water started to pour from the tap. It was rusty at first, but cleared after a few seconds. They must have had water still in the tank. I laughed out loud as I plugged the drain and let the tub fill up a bit. The water was freezing since there was no power to heat it up, but it was better than nothing. I turned the tap off; not wanting to waste one drop. 

I went down the stairs as fast as my creaky limbs would allow. Snatching up the soap and shampoo, I went back up to my frosty bath. Bathing in my books was a necessity, not an option. The water was only up to my ankles, but that was all I needed. My toes and fingers were almost blue by the time I had cleaned myself off and my teeth were chattering. I towelled off, not bothering in the least. Cold was something I could deal with, especially if it meant I could wash up. 

 

A cleaner reflection peered back at me from the mirror. This was much better. I let the water out and left the supplies there for Tobin later. Once back downstairs, I started to lay out the maps. After a good thirty minutes, I tossed the map I had been looking at to the floor in frustration. Nothing was giving hints as to what this Hargrove place was. It wasn't a main building, it wasn't a suburb, it wasn't a park, and it wasn't on there. It wasn't even a fucking street name. How was I supposed to find it?

I felt useless without the internet. This place might as well have been across the country for all I was worth. With an angry sigh, I returned to the maps. I scanned a local one, a red cross icon catching my eye. According to the map, this was a medical centre just off the main street. This was one of those small towns where everything was either on the Main Street or just off it. Tobin would need some antibiotics to keep an infection at bay. 

Looks like I was making another run into town before we left this place. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm interested, what do you guys think Hargrove is? and do you think they should be looking for it?
> 
> ps. I'm staying up for all the NWSL games tonight and i'm going to continue writing to keep myself awake. So at least one more chapter is on its way


	36. Quick Tidy Up

My body really didn't like the idea of moving, but I had no choice. An infection just wouldn't wait for me to get off my ass. Memories of the hospital came flooding back to me, making me even more hesitant. What are the chances the centre wouldn't be picked over? Is it worth it? That was a selfish question. Of course I had to go. 

 

Now I had to decide if I should walk again or take a vehicle. I had found the spare key to the Taurus in the drive way and could afford to damage this one. It would attract attention, but I didn't think my body was in any shape to be running away from hordes. And I wouldn't get there faster. The alleyway behind the house was still littered with infected, so I would have to leave out the front door. This meant taking the longer way to where I needed to go.

Vehicle it was. I just hoped the owners had left enough gas in it. I began packing for my scavenging trip. I emptied out my backpack and straightened up our supplies. There was a fair sized mound of bags and items taking up room in the living area. If I monitored the provisions, we could easily make them last two weeks. But the question was do we stay here expecting a miracle to drop into our laps? Or hit the road? I had no clue where to even start looking for this Hargrove place, so the chances of running into it while driving aimlessly, were pretty nil. 

 

Hopelessness began to daunt on me once again. It seems like it was a constant battle. Not just to keep ourselves from the infected, but to keep ourselves from giving up. It was easy to give up once hope was lost. I wasn't used to making the hard decisions, before all this shit happened hard decisions never came up in my old life. 

As much as Ali wasn't happy about it, Heather had made most of our hard decisions thus far. Heather was a natural leader and the most mature of us, so it was easy to let her steer things. I mean we all had a say in matters, but Heather had this way about her that made you feel like she knew exactly what she was doing. Maybe I would have been better off right now if we hadn't let Heather slide into that role so easily.

All of that was moot right now. Heather wasn't here to tell me what the right path was; I had to figure that out for myself. It made me want to pull my hair out, how Heather wasn't bald by now, was a mystery. 

 

The sound of shuffling upstairs pulled me from my thoughts. It looks like Tobin was awake. I heard the stairs creak as she descended down them. She was rubbing at her eyes, still yawning from sleep, courtesy of all the allergy medication. I picked up a water bottle, twisted off the cap and passed it to her. She took it from me and sat down by all the supplies, rooting through for something to eat. Silent the whole time. 

I let her get some food before I started to talk. 

"Tobin, I need to re-dress your arm."

She froze mid-chew. I glanced away awkwardly, not sure of where I should even be looking. 

"It will be quick, I promise."

She didn't say anything, but gave a little nod and remained seated. I went to the kitchen to grab the peroxide and gauze. She eyed me warily as I kneeled beside her. She held her arm as far away from her body as possible, as if she didn't want me any closer. I tried to act like it didn't affect me. I tried to handle this like an adult, but it was difficult. I wanted to plead with her that I did it for her own good and her wound was treated because of me. I wanted to beg her forgiveness and to stop hating me, but I didn't.

I carefully removed the old, soiled bandage. The wound was an angry shade of red and I could see the hardened superglue on the surface. The veins that ran from the gash were a lot more visible than before, making it look like tentacles slithering from the wound. That couldn't be good. She really did need those antibiotics. I poured some peroxide on the wound and Tobin hissed in a breath from the contact. Once I cleared off the liquid oozing from the cut, I re-wrapped her arm with clean gauze. 

"I'm running back into town." This got her attention. Her head whipped to look at me. 

"according to the map, there's a medical centre in town and I need to get you some antibiotics. You're going to stay here with the doors locked. I shouldn't be long since i'm taking the car this time."

She didn't say anything in return; instead she just stared at the floor and started to pick at a snag in her pants. I could tell that she wanted to say something, but she stubbornly remained silent. I passed her more generic painkillers and she swallowed them in a hurry. 

I went back to my preparation. Sitting on the couch, I refilled the clips for my gun. There weren't very many bullets left in the box and since that hardware store was a bust, I didn't know where else to get ammo from. All I needed were generic 9mm bullets, but even that was asking a lot now. I made sure I had my hunting knife and my axe. I really wished I still had my belt with the holsters to place the gun and my knife on. It was currently residing with my Berettas and that lunatic.

_We could try for a run to Heather's gun shop._

That thought honestly hadn't occurred to me until now and I felt stupid for taking that long to come to that conclusion. Maybe they all went back there too. Although, they would have needed to commandeer another vehicle since the truck was more than likely taken by Meghan and we currently had the car. It was the only place besides the cabin that we had all been to before. 

I quickly pulled out the larger scale map of Louisiana and started to look for the area outside of New Orleans where Heather's shop was located. Whit had circled it on our old map before and I knew it was just off of a main road that ran outside of the city, through a small suburb area. I scrambled around for a pen and circled roughly where Whit had before. I had to basically carve into the laminated surface. 

If I could just get myself to the outskirts by tracking from the interstate to the suburb area, I was confident I could locate the store. There was that gas station and grocery store we had stopped at that stood out. If I found that, I could find the store. I finally had a concrete plan and it felt invigorating. My brain had finally kicked into gear. I felt like I should share my plan, since I wasn't the only one it affected. 

"Tobin, I just had an idea."

She had been watching me as I flew into motion, scanning the map.

"Once I go get some supplies from the medical centre, I think we should try to go back to Heather's gun shop."

Tobin still refused to speak, but I could tell from her expression she thought it was a good idea too. Even if they weren't there, we could grab some much needed ammo and guns. She nodded and continued to pop trail mix into her mouth. Her hands were filthy, reminding me that there was still some water to wash up in. 

"So it turns out there is still some water in the tank here. It will be freezing, but you should go take a bath. I left soap and shampoo up there."

Without a word she stood up and headed for upstairs. I heard the groaning of pipes a few minutes later. I was glad she listened. I would have to redo her wrapping again, but at least she wouldn't be covered in germs to feed the infection. 

 

Once my weapon were in order, I stuffed a couple of water bottles and some quick food into my backpack, along with a flashlight we'd found. I re-scanned the map, trying to memorise the route. I had to take a grand total of two left turns to get to the street I needed. The medical centre was off of the Main Street, but there were residential houses still to one side of it. It almost seemed like someone converted an old house into the centre. 

I wondered what the chances were that the place hadn't been picked clean. The rest of the town was still in pretty good shape, as far as buildings went anyways. The main street stores still had their windows intact and other major items like bullets and perishables, the stores weren't completely empty. Which lead me to believe there would be something in the centre I could use. 

 

The keys to the house and the Taurus were on the floor beside me. I wasn't mechanically inclined in any way, shape or form and I hoped the car started without an issue. I didn't want to potentially damage Heather's Mazda; we needed that one to run. 

I got up and peeked out the front window, pulling the hideous curtains to the side. The street had a few roamers. One was dressed in a torn jogging suit and for some reason the image of a zombie speed walking club popped into my head. I really was starting to question my sanity, but at his point, who wouldn't? After everything I had witnessed, I was surprised I wasn't rocking myself back and forth in a corner. One day maybe. Right now I had a goal to focus on which seemed to keep the lurking insanity at bay. 

It took some effort, but my sore body was able to move the couch away from the front door. with my axe in hand, I closed the door behind me. I would need to take out the few infected before I left. For Tobin's safety. My limbs creaked in harmony with the porch stairs. There was nothing I wanted more than to soak in a hot bath right now. 

One decayed head turned to me with a hiss and started its trek towards me. I brought the axe down and the infected's head split open like a tree trunk. I quickly yanked the axe free from the fallen dead weight. The one in the track suit was now coming towards me, ironically a bit faster than the rest. Maybe she was in better shape as a human than the others. I swiped out my foot and the thing landed on the driveway hard. I heard the sound of a bone cracking and her right arm was now bent underneath her at an odd angle. 

She reached up, intent on grabbing anything she could get her gnarled left hand on. I placed my foot down on her left arm to hold it down and clubbed her in the head with the flat side of the axe blade, like I was hammering a nail into a coffin. Despite my body's protest, I took out the remaining two. I looked around at the fallen infected spread out. I sighed, knowing what I had to do next. 

 

I started to drag the bodies to where I had hid the last one. By the time I was done, there was quite the pile, but the overgrown bushes still managed to hide them. I sauntered back to the house, my elbow giving off heat it was so sore. I peered up into the bright, blue sky. It gave no indication of the horrors we were faced with, in fact it seemed almost serene. You would think with all that had happened that the sky would be a constant mass of darken clouds to reflect the abysmal form of life we were now forced to live. But no, it instead mocked us with its ocean blue hues; I was almost resentful. 

 

With the keys in hand, I started the Taurus. I had to try a few times as the neglected engine tried to start. It roared to life on the third attempt and I watched the gas needle land on the full line. At least I had gas. When I was done with it, I would need to siphon the gasoline out for the Mazda. I turned on the windshield wipers to clean off the dusty mess. Chemical cleaner and dirt ran down the sides and I could finally see out of the glass. Leaving it running, I went back inside and found Tobin sitting on the couch. I grabbed my backpack and weapons. 

"Lock the door once I leave and keep your head down."

She didn't reply and I shut the front door behind me. 

 

 

 


	37. Medical Run

I got into the car and tossed my bag on the seat beside me, along with my trusty axe. With one last look, I made sure the area around the house was clear. Nothing moved so I hit reverse and left the neighbourhood behind me. The street that connected to the cul-de-sac was void of infected. Most of them must have been congregating in the alley behind the house we were squatting in. 

There were a few wanderers on the road; I made a point to hit them. Pushing down on the gas pedal, the Taurus lurched forward with infected in the cross-hairs. A feminine shaped one hit the right corner and spun like a top down to the tarmac. The next one hit the grill and bounced up, cracking the windshield on the passenger's side. I watched in the rear-view mirror as he landed in a crumpled mass on the hard ground.

A strange face peered back at me through my reflection. Her smirk was cruel and hollow. It scared me. I tore my face from the mirror back to the road; there would be no more of that. This car was disposable to me, but I still needed it to get back. Encouraging crazy behaviour could only lead to something worse. I was fully aware that it looked like I was coming unhinged. I wondered if most people who go crazy know they're insane? A question for the ages I guess. 

I swerved to avoid the others in my way. There didn't seem to be that many out on the road this time. I took my last left and found myself on the road that ran behind the main street. Houses lined the boulevard and I counted until I hit the fourth one in. That should be the medical centre. There was a sign posted above the door that said Westwego Medical Centre. All are welcome. No cars were parked outside, which was a good thing. Last thing I needed was to fight someone for the supplies inside. I parked and got out, with my backpack and weapons in tow. 

An infected shuffled towards me from the front lawn, his face was...well missing a part. A baseball sized chunk of the left side of his face was gone. I could see through the cheek and into the mouth. Also the left eye was almost torn out of the socket. I had no idea if his face had been eaten or blown off with a gun. I used my axe to put it out its misery. Again, I found myself dragging a body, this time disposing of it behind one of the neighbouring whit picket fences. You know, there's a joke in there somewhere. 

Maybe that thing was here for some treatment or at least had tried to get some before he turned. This made me wary of what I would find in the medical centre. I cautiously walked up to the front steps. Whoever owned this building had renovated it completely. The front door was one of those push open glass ones that you found in all the shops. There was also a metal gate pulled out on the inside for added security. Looks like the front door was a bust.

 

I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. The gate created a diamond pattern with the light, coating the front lobby in shadows. It had a reception desk and waiting room chairs all over. There was a hallway that I couldn't see very far down towards the back. I started walking down the side of the building, hoping to find another point of entry.

The backyard was like an extension of the waiting room. Instead of grass, the yard was covered in cement and had a bunch of tables and chairs. One of the canary yellow seats was occupied. A rather fat infected man was sitting in one. I tip-toed over to the unmoving mass and poked it with the end of my axe. Its bloodshot eyes snapped open and he lunged for me, moving faster than I thought possible. I scrambled back and tripped over an uneven slat of cement. The thing landed on top of me and I struggled to push his heavy form off. 

He snapped his teeth and gurgled, all while trying to claw at me. I pushed the handle of the axe along the things neck, keeping his teeth away from me. My elbow protested the whole way, but I was able to muster enough strength to keep pushing the axe away. Slowly, the infected was moved off of me and with a final shove, I bucked it to the side. I rolled as soon as I was clear and yanked out my hunting knife.

Had this been another time, I'd probably have laughed at the fat infected as he struggled to get himself up, his bloated stomach creating an obstacle. I brought the knife down on the top of its head and it sunk down to the ground. I wrenched the knife out of the infected's skull and wiped it off of his ripped dress shirt. It always seemed so insulting in movies when the killer would clean their weapon on the victim's clothes. Now it seemed more practical than cold.

 

I sheathed my knife and stretched out my elbow, trying to get rid of the stiffness that was setting in along with the pain. Another door blocked my entry. There was a heavy set padlock on the outside. I raised my axe and brought it down on top of it. One side of the metal piece detached from the wooden door frame and hung loosely. I tried the door knob, but I already knew that would be locked too.

I wedged the axe blade in between the door and frame as much as I could and started to pry it open. I was grunting from the exertion, the creaking sound of the frame spurring me on. After a few seconds the door slid open as the piece in the door frame came loose. I grabbed the door and yanked it all the way open. The smell hit me first. The place had been locked up tight and it looked like I was the first one to try to break in, so why would it smell like rotting bodies in here?

 

The light from the front didn't reach back here so I pulled out my flashlight. The beam of light illuminated the dust motes flying in the air. It looks like I was the first one in here in a while. I closed the door behind me as much as I could. The long hallway was surrounded with doors, some open, some closed. I peered in the open ones. They were the standard examination rooms with a chair and patient table in them. I tried the door labelled lab, but it was locked. My elbow was begging me to stop using force, so I went in search of the keys. 

Various medical posters lined the walls, stressing the importance of safe sex and getting you prostrate checked. I made it all the way back to the front waiting room, which was still empty. The old floor creaked in one spot, the wood rotting i'm sure. I heard a bang come from below. I froze and swallowed. There was that cloying smell of rot, yet everything up here seemed clear. Snooping through the receptionist desk, I found various labelled keys in the desk drawer. I scooped up the one that was for the lab and grabbed the basement one as well. The lab door opened with a click and I shone my flashlight in before entering. It was clear of bodies. Shelves lined the room and a locked cabinet at the back caught my attention. It was made of glass and I could see the pill bottles just sitting in there. 

Using the end of my axe, I broke the glass doors, looking away as I smashed the glass. I read through all the labels and grabbed the ones that ended in the suffixes of mycin or cillin. I knew enough that those were antibiotics. After throwing my stash into my backpack, I looked around for more supplies to scavenge. Sterile, stainless steel tools littered the place and gave me the urge to shiver. They always reminded me of horror movies. 

A louder bang caught my attention. I shouldered my backpack again, the pills rattling like kids toys. The noise had come from downstairs and I headed back to the door labelled stairs. It opened without a key and I was faced with a looming set of stairs leading further down. I beamed my light in and seen another door at the bottom of the landing. The smell was tenfold down here. 

Morbid curiosity was getting the better of me. I knew I should just leave now that I got what I came for, but part of me wanted to know what the hell was down there. I knew it would be nothing good, just like what we found in the hardware store. Using my axe, I propped open the door at the top of the stairs then started down. The banging sound was getting louder now as my footfalls echoed in the confined space.

I stilled my breathing and put my ear up against the door. The banging sound was coming from inside somewhere. The key fit in the lock like a glove, but my hand froze. Did I really want to see what was down here?

"Well, isn't this a coincidence?"

My heart stopped in my chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dunnnn and that's a wrap for tonight. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the next chapter.   
> Who do you think she's found?


	38. Unwanted Reunion

I turned around slowly, dread like a lead balloon in my stomach. At the top of the stairs stood Riley. He had a look on his face that I couldn't quite classify as a smile. How had he found me?

"Well, I can't say this isn't a surprise, running into you like this. I thought we had seen the last of you." The pink tip of his tongue ran over the bottom of his teeth. 

"Are you following us?" I croaked out.

"Well, well I thought you were mute," He smirked. "You didn't say a word the last time."

"Forced imprisonment does that to a person." I glared back. His grin spread further across his face.

"You left me with quite the souvenir you know." His hand came to rest on the spot where my knife had sunk in. " I can't say I have ever let someone get the better of me before. Took ten stitches and a bottle of captain Morgan to set me right."

 _What do I do? What do I do?_  Should I shoot him? I was trapped at the bottom of the stairs with the unknown on the other side of the door. He'd more than likely return fire and I was a sitting duck down here. Well, I hoped that whatever was on the other side was an improvement. I turned the knob and dashed inside as I pulled out the keys. I fumbled with the lock on the inside, making sure they couldn't get in. Heavy footfalls sounded down the stairs. 

"You're only going to make this harder on yourself, I just want to talk."

 _I'm sure all killers say that to their victims._ It was pitch black down here and foul, damp air clawed at my nostrils. I dragged the flashlight from my backpack and clicked it on. I heard the chains rattle before I seen the bodies. A skeletal infected reared towards me and I stumbled back until I hit the wall. it was yanked to a stop. a few feet from me. With its arms outstretched, it clawed at the air between us. 

I blinked a few times, my eyes adjusting to the sight and my heart rate started to return to normal. A metal collar was fastened around the infected's neck, a chain running from it to the wall. Two other infected were chained up, but they didn't seem to have as long a chain. One wasn't moving, lying still in a pool of filth. 

Ok, so this wasn't an improvement. I needed to get out of here. I shone my flashlight around, trying to spot an escape route. Muffled voices were on the other side of the door. Riley must not have been alone. Then the banging started. They were ramming the door trying to get in. The two mobile infected now had all their attention focused on the smashing sound. 

Using the wall as my guide, I shuffled along getting further out of their reach. The beam of light landed on a small, boarded up window. It was one of those tiny basement windows that basically served no purpose other than to make it feel less like a dungeon. Good thing I had lost weight in the last few months, I could probably squeeze through it now. I shuffled over, the infected still rapt upon the banging. I ran into something hard at waste level and shone the light down. A rolling hospital bed laid in my way. The sheets were stained in blood and a pair of handcuffs dangled from the bars. 

I gulped audibly as I manoeuvred around it, careful not to step into the infected's chain radius. They still weren't paying attention to me. I mean I was being extremely cautious with not making a noise or sudden movements, but fresh meat had to be calling to them. I'd never been so close to an infected and been so slow. Usually I was running from them. It was like I no longer held their interest once I wasn't making a noise or making noticeable movements in their line of sight. 

Now wasn't the time to question it. I stuck the end of the flashlight into my mouth and tried to pry away the boards. They weren't nailed on, just placed against the glass. Daylight spilt through the small opening, providing a little bit of vision. I could see the basement more clearly now. There was a heavy, industrial door towards the back that looked like it headed into a small room. It seemed very out of place for a doctor's clinic. The walls were covered in smooth tiles, making it look more like a shower room than a basement. Hospital beds were scattered all over the room, tables with trays of tools beside them.

The gleam of stainless steel scalpels and scissors were reflected back at me. Maybe they had used this as an operation room? Or for something worse? The way the infected were chained up, led me to lean towards the latter. And what the hell would they need the meat locker looking room for? The shit I get myself into..

 

The banging increased tenfold, spurring me on to use the butt of the flashlight to smash the glass. Sill using the flashlight, I cleared off the rest of the jagged pieces. I shoved my jingling backpack through the opening. I needed something to gain ground with. Whipping my head around, my eyes landed on the patient bed. With a heft, I rolled it towards the window. The wheels squealed from the lack of use and one of the infected turned towards me. I stood as still as I could, waiting for it to go back to clawing uselessly in the direction of the door. 

Once it grew tired of staring at me, I wheeled the bed the rest of the way. The door flew open at the same time I planted a foot on the bed. Riley and the man I recognised as Conner burst into the room momentarily caught off guard by the infected waiting to devour them. 

"Holy shit!" Connor yelled as he slid to a stop. 

Unfortunately for him, he entered the room first in a sprint and was unable to stop in time. The infected with the longest chain latched onto him and took a massive chunk out of his arm. Conner's scream bounced off the walls, encouraging the other infected. Riley whipped out his gun.

"No man, don't!"

The gun flash briefly lit up the dim basement. Conner dropped like a stone, the hole in his head still smoking. The infected fell down with him, tearing into any part it could get to. Riley's head snapped in my direction and I scrambled to get out, having wasted precious time watching the whole scene, hoping Riley would meet his end too. No such luck. 

I had my arms and head through the opening, my legs flailing to try and get purchase. I felt a hand wrap around my ankle and yank. My arms scraped along the window frame and I landed face first on the disgusting hospital bed. Then with another forceful pull, my face met the cold, cement ground. I could taste blood in my mouth, my teeth having sliced open my tongue.

"You just cost me another good team member," Riley tsked. 

Roughly, he grabbed my upper arms and turned me over.

"You're going to pay for that."

I spit the blood welling in my mouth at him. He made an angry grunt and a hand flew to his face to wipe the blood off. I kicked out my leg and it landed in his side with a thud. 

"Bitch!"

Using his brief moment of distraction, I scrambled onto all fours and got up. He was right behind me, on my heels. He recovered fast. Riley tackled me to the ground, my hands flew out instinctively grabbing at anything, and a tray of tools clattered to the ground with us. The sound of stainless steel hitting the cement rained all around us.

I used the tray still gripped in my hand to smash Riley's face. He grabbed my wrist and pried the useless weapon from my hand and threw it away. It rattled like a tin sheet as it sailed away from us. I fought to punch at him, but Riley managed to gather my wrists in his hands. 

"Keep fighting me, I like it." He was out of breath from our tussling. 

"Fuck you!" I yelled straight into his face, blood and spit mixing with my harsh exclamation.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" His grin didn't reach his eyes, they were dark and dead. He might as well have been infected for all I saw in there. 

"No, that's not what this is about. Revenge, once I kill you, I will find the rest of your group and kill them too."

To emphasise his point, his hands moved from my wrists to my neck. My oxygen was cut off abruptly and I clawed at the hands now squeezing the life out of me. The pressure on my neck was beyond painful and I kicked out my legs, desperate to get air. Black dots were starting to line my vision and dance before my eyes. 

"Fighting will only make it last longer."

The coldness in Riley's eyes were replaced with sick amusement. He liked killing. This world didn't ruin his life, it set him free. He had killed before and would keep doing it. What if he did find my friends? What if he found Tobin? I removed my nails from the hand wrapped around my neck and felt around the floor near me, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. I didn't have much time, I was starting to fade; I could feel it.

 

Death was closer than it ever had been, but I refused to give Riley the satisfaction. My hand wrapped around the hilt of one of the dropped tools and with my last remaining strength I brought my arm up in a wide arc. The sharp edge of whatever tool I had grabbed embedded itself in Riley's neck. His eyes went wide in shock and his hands flew to his neck. Suddenly, I could breathe.

Cool, blessed air reached my starved lungs and I heaved in deep breaths. My eyes were watering and my throat burned like I had never felt before. It was like acid coated the inside of my throat and air was water being poured onto it. Riley was pale and clutching at the handle protruding from his neck. Blood poured from the wound like a faucet turned to the max. It looks like I had stabbed him with a scalpel.

He collapsed to the ground, his mouth open and fluttering like a gaping fish on land. I hauled myself to my shaky feet and reached into my waist band. I loomed over him, the gun aimed right at his forehead. Once he seen the gun in my hand, he reached up; whether to plead for his life or beg for it to be quick, I will never know. I pulled the trigger. 

He won in the end. Now I was a monster too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ash has just become pretty badass, right.


	39. Guilt

I don't remember much of the drive back to the house. Hell, I don't even remember how I got out of the medical centre. It was like a time skip. One minute I was standing over a dead body, the next I was parked, siting in the front seat of the Taurus with my backpack in the passenger's side. 

I'd killed a living person, but I was glad Riley was gone. Something like peace settled over me. I peered into the rear-view mirror, prodding at my red neck. Bruising was already starting to mar my skin. I tried to speak, but a squeak was all that escaped. Swallowing hurt like a bitch, but was still working correctly. 

There was less threat in the world and that had to count for something. I was glad I wasn't a religious person. It was hard to believe that killing in self-defence would send your soul to hell. 

 _Was it self defence?_ I could have easily got away while he was squirming on the floor in his own blood. He eventually would have died from blood loss anyways. At least, that's what I told myself. But that wasn't the only reason. 

I wanted to do it, I wanted to see with my own eyes that he had died, and I did.

I walked from the drive-way to the house, looking no more alive than the mountain of infected I had killed. I felt sub-human. Stopping, I dropped my backpack to the ground. The front door seemed to be getting further and further away. My subconscious was none to subtly telling me not to go in. 

I wasn't ready to plat human, at least not so soon after. Maybe I should have stayed away. It was faint, but I still heard the sound of the deadbolt being flipped. The door opened to reveal the concerned face of Tobin. I peered back at her, not saying anything, not daring to move. She looked at me, her eyes taking in the damage I had sustained and the backpack resting at my feet. 

She threw open the door and tore down the steps. She ran to me full force. Her arms wrapped around my middle and I could tell she was sobbing. 

"You came back!" She cried, hugging me tightly. 

I wanted to tell her that of course I did, but my voice wasn't cooperating at the moment. She looked up at me and I pointed to my neck so she would know why I couldn't speak. She didn't need to know that my reluctance to speak was not only due to physical limitations. 

"You're hurt."

I gave her a meagre smile and a thumbs-up. She released me and placed her hand in mine, determination set in her features. 

"don't worry, we'll find them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small tidy up chapter, sorry it's nothing exciting.


	40. Fever

I had that dream again; the one where I was stumbling around the desert, no idea where I was going. The heat was bearing down on me, drawing out my endless thirst. I used to chalk the dreams up to watching The Mummy one too many times as a kid. 

The endless daunting future hung over my head like a guillotine. it was the result of my nerves slipping into my sleep. I had a plan. Well, maybe a plan was being generous. Driving towards a long shot was more appropriate. Heather's gun shop was my current goal. Having a goal in life helped to keep me centred. There was a time when I was more than happy to flounder, unsure of what I should do in the future. 

 

Tobin and I had been hunkered down in this house in Gibson for just over a week now. A week since I had taken a life.  _Didn't cops get at least a month off after shooting a perp?_

Right now, time didn't look like the answer. I couldn't tell Tobin about what I had done, so I've been keeping it to myself. According to her, I've taken to talking and sometimes yelling in my sleep. This was a new development. I was a light sleeper, but I never so much as made a peep before.

I didn't need a shrink to tell me I wasn't handling it well. I would sometimes dream of that night, unconsciously forcing myself to relive it. It was like a movie reel loop and I was continually unable to change the outcome. 

_What would the others think of me now? They would be disgusted no doubt. I would be. Perhaps Heather would be a little more sympathetic. She had killed before, right in front of my eyes. Two of Riley's goons. did it matter if the person deserved it? I'd like to think it did. I really could use Heather here to help me get through this._

 

I hugged my knees to my chest. I was sitting on the couch propped against the front door. It was late at night and I had jerked awake in a cold sweat. Tobin was lying on the mattress we brought down, still fast asleep. 

After that day, she had started talking to me again. I think she has forgiven me for my shitty was of handling her grievous wound. The antibiotics had started to kick-in and the wound no longer had off-coloured veins running from it like melted wax.

For the first few days she was really sick. A fever had broken out and it scared the shit out of me. She was shaking and deathly pale, with sweat constantly coating her skin. All the food that she had eaten came right back up. I wasn't the praying type, but I prayed that day.

 

_Tobin's body was shaking so bad that the blanket wrapped around her rippled. Dark circles hung under her eyes like crescent moons, the rest of her face was colourless. I felt her forehead and it was burning. I dug through the bags and found some Tylenol to help reduce the fever._

"Ash," She rasped. "I feel really bad."

_I had to help hold her head up to get her to drink some water; I had absolutely zero experience in caring for a sick person. She sputtered and returned to her shivering. She had just eaten a few canned peaches and immediately threw them up, so I grabbed a bowl from the kitchen for her to retch in. I hadn't noticed how badly off she was when she ran outside to meet me, but once we were settled back in the hose, it became clear. I had to goad her into trying to swallow the pills I had brought back._

_By the time night fell, she was sleeping fitfully. I made sure to give her more pills before she fell asleep. Maybe if I just pumped her body full of antibiotics, it would ward off the sickness. I ran my hand through my hair, just as Ali used to do. I couldn't catch a break. What would I do if I lost Tobin? I didn't even want to think about it; my stomach churned at the thought._

_I looked at the ceiling and prayed that she would make it through this. I said I would forgive all the shit that happened to me over the last few months if someone up there would just see Tobin past the sickness. We would be square, Even. Of course I got no answer, but I'd like to think someone up there took me up on my offer._  

_I dozed off; half lying on the bed Tobin was situated on. When I woke up, her shivers had stopped, but she still had a fever. I shook her awake and had her take more pills and water. Thank god she wasn't allergic to any medication; I hadn't even thought to ask._

 

I was used to being scared for myself, but that night I learned what it was like to truly be scared for someone else's life. It took a couple of days of me force feeding her the pills, but eventually her health returned. She was able to keep down her food and her strength started to come back.

So here I was, sitting on the couch wide awake struggling with what to do. Tobin was well enough to travel, but was I? It would be just her and I on the road trying to head back towards New Orleans. I deeply regretted coming here on holiday.

I could be home right now, with my family and at least know if they were alive or not. Instead, I was in another state from them, in an unfamiliar place, dependant on people I hardly know. In the grand scheme of things, how well did I know any of our companions?

 

I scrubbed my hands down my face trying to stop my train of thought. I needed to go over the plan again. While Tobin was recuperating, I had made another run to the general store for supplies and siphoned the gas from the neighbouring vehicles. If I had to guess, I'd say we had about two more tanks worth. Hopefully, that would be enough to get us to Heather's gun shop just outside of New Orlean's. There was enough food and water to last us about one week, granted I monitored it. We could probably scavenge more supplies along the way, if need be.

I would rather make a straight shot for the shop, but as much as I didn't feel it at the moment, I was still human. I needed sleep, so finding a secure place along the way was also a priority. There were so many variables, so many uncertainties. I had bit my lip so much, that I tasted blood. This wasn't some fun road trip I was planning; any details left out could spell death. I hadn't come this far to be next on the chopping block.

"Ash?" a groggy Tobin muttered from her bed.

"Yeah?"

The bruising on my neck had started to turn that sickly yellow colour, the one that let you know it was healing. I could speak without pain now but my voice still came out like I hadn't drank any water in days and I smoked two packs a day. Another souvenir of Riley, as if the trauma of killing him wasn't enough. Every time I spoke, would I be reminded of him?

"Why are you up again?"

"Can't sleep."

Through the dim moonlight I could see her small outline look away.

"Is it because I got so mad at you?"

"No, Tobin, that's not it."

"I'm sorry I got so angry, I know you were just trying to help. Just the whole situation, the stress, losing Alex, everything, you know?"

"It's fine. You have nothing to worry about."

The double meaning in those words was only evident to me. She seemed to stare at me for a while, like she was trying to tell if I was serious or not. Then she said something I wasn't expecting.

"Thank you"

I nodded, "You're welcome"

"Are we leaving tomorrow?"

"Yup."

"Well then, you better get to sleep," She said sternly and for the first time in a week, I cracked a small smile.  

 

I 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I want to apologise for taking so long to update this. I haven't forgotten about you guys I swear. It's harder to update it everyday than I thought it would be. Although I have the story planned out and I know how it's going to go, actually having the mindset to write it, and not sounding like a 2 year old is hard. I don't want to force chapters out just for the sake of getting an update in every day, I'd rather wait a couple days until I'm able to write properly.


	41. Hand Of God

The next morning flew by in a rush. I had finished most of the packing the previous day, so that wasn't so much the issue. We both were reluctant to leave our safe haven. Being on the road meant being out in the open and who knows what was out there. I pulled the couch away from the door and fresh air swept through the musty room.

By the time we were done, the car's trunk and back seat were crammed full. We looked like we were living in our car, which I suppose was the case. 

"Ash!"

I turned to face Tobin, who was pointing at an infected that had decided to wish us farewell. I picked up my axe and started towards it. 

"Get in the car!"

I didn't bother to look back, instead keeping my eyes on the creature in front of me. It was an old lady once, her purple suit stained with blood. It snapped its teeth and made a low rasping sound as I approached.

"What? No goodbye?" It took me a minute to realise I had said that out loud. 

I raised the axe and brought it down square in the middle of the things head. It dropped like a sack of tatties and I yanked my axe free. I had raided the houses nearby too for supplies and if I had to guess, this one was a resident of the teapot wallpaper house. I must have missed her when I did my sweep earlier. I wiped my axe off the overgrown lawn and went back to the car. Tobin had gotten into the passenger's side. I slid into the drivers and started the Mazda.

"You ready?"

Tobin nodded and I reversed out of the driveway, taking one last look at our temporary home. We were followed out of town by investigating infected drawn by the noise. The mob behind us almost made me feel like I was being run out of town. All they needed were torches and pitchforks. A small laugh escaped my lips and Tobin sent me a questioning glance. 

"You have the maps?" I asked, more as a way to distract her attention. 

She held them up "Yup"

Tobin unfolded the Louisiana one that I had planned our route on. Using what Heather and Whit had taught me about reading maps, I figured that we would get the majority of our interstate driving done today, landing one town away from New Orleans outskirts. Gas was precious, so I couldn't speed excessively, keeping the odometer at fifty miles per hour. Strangely, that speed felt relevantly fast, I guess anything would when you weren't driving along side other vehicles.

I had forged a circle on the area of the laminated map where I guessed Heather's shop to be. All I needed to find was the Grocery store we raided that first time and I could backtrack from there.

 

The interstate was barren; any vehicles on the road were un-moving and looked long abandoned. There were a few infected that had managed to get themselves onto the highway, but we easily avoided them. It was around any turnoff that the road started to become congested and I had to carefully manoeuvre around parked vehicles. 

As we inched past a blockade of left behind cars, an infected threw itself at the passenger's side door and Tobin screamed. I reared the Mazda to the right and squashed the infected against the car it had popped out of. A nasty crunching sound, like cracking all your knuckles at once, echoed into the cabin of the car. Tobin's window had become a mess and I had to pull over once we were on another clear stretch of asphalt. 

 

I took out a handful of napkins I had found and got out of the car. We couldn't afford my vision to be impeded. The side of the car was scratched up from my defensive driving, the red primer showing in spots. I hope Heather wasn't too attached to this paint job. I threw the messy wad of napkins on the ground before entering the car again. 

"That was gross." Tobin pulled a face. 

"I agree."

I was about to hit the gas when my eyes landed on a marking along the interstate floor. I got back out to take a closer look. In red spray paint, the image of a crudely drawn hand with an eye in the centre looked back at me from the pavement. It reminded me of a pendant I saw once with the evil eye symbol, except this drawing was much more simplistic. 

"What is that?"

I turned to see that Tobin had gotten out of the car and was staring at the graffiti. 

"I have no idea, and stay in the car please."

She looked at me and then back at the drawing one last time before she returned to the vehicle. Then I followed suit. 

"Do you think that was supposed to be the hand of god?" Tobin asked. 

"I'm not one for religion, but I don't think that symbol was from the Christian faith."

"What do you think it means?"

"The mark of the evil eye."

Tobin looked at me, like I had said something odd, "Isn't that a look you give someone?"

"I guess, but it's also a symbol." Not a good symbol to get, mind you.

"Why would someone draw that?"

I sighed; it looked like I was in for another fun filled game of twenty questions. 

"I don't know, maybe to ward off evil or maybe even to curse people. I'm not from here, but aren't some people here big into voodoo?"

I drove right over the symbol as I continued my journey. Tobin looked through the back window "Driving over it was probably bad luck"

I didn't think my luck could turn anymore sour, so I just shrugged. Maybe it was a gang marking their territory, but there was no writing like "Westside 4 life," Near it and didn't gangs usually like to identify themselves? It was a rather odd thing to have in the middle of the road, it was like whoever put it there, really wanted it to be seen.

 

The trip was taking longer than normal since I was trying to conserve gas by going slower. Every once in a while, the sloshing of the extra gas in the canisters would reach the cabin as if to remind me of why I was going so slow. We needed this gas to last as long as possible. I didn't have the body strength to break into the underground tanks at gas stations, so I would have to stick to siphoning gas from abandoned cars. I was getting really sick of the taste of gasoline.

"Why are you smiling?" Tobin asked me

I hadn't even realised I was, "I was just thinking about our supply run a while ago. I said something snarky to Whit about sucking on hoses."

"I don't get it"

I just rolled my eyes.

She crossed her arms and made a 'hmph' sound like a 2 year old. My thoughts soon drifted towards Whit. Her final resting place had been the cabin. Would we ever be able to return to her grave? We hadn't always seen eye to eye, but I would like to be able to pay my respects and I know Heather wouldn't just leave the grave to be lost.

_If she was still alive_

I tried to push the thought from my head. I wanted to believe they were all alive, that they had survived the cabin being overrun. They just...had to be alive. I mean I lived and managed to get Tobin out too, so they must be fine. They were a hell of a lot more qualified than I was.

"Look"

The turnoff sign for Gretna loomed from the side of the interstate. The steadily declining sun was reflecting off of the metal sign, like a glass shard on a beach. This would be our stop for the night. There was no point in crossing the river and getting caught up in the city when the daylight was starting to fade, we would be dead in the water.

As I went to take the turnoff, a dark figure flew out from seemingly nowhere to block my path. I had to slam on my brakes and we were jerked against the seat-belts. Well, that was one way to get yourself run over. When I looked up, I could see that it was a woman dressed in all black. She didn't have her weapon drawn, but I could see her automatic rifle resting in her left hand. 

"Please turn off your car." The woman yelled, still blocking my path. She was close enough that I could hear her even with the windows rolled up.

I was having flashbacks to when we first ran into Riley's gang at the police station and I was not appreciating the reminder. I briefly contemplated running the woman down, but the car clearance was too low and this was a live body, not a dead one. All I would do is mess up the front end. 

I looked over to see Tobin staring wide-eyed at the woman, her hands gripping the dashboard so heard her knuckles were white.

"Whatever happens, don't get out the car," I instructed Tobin, "Nod so I know you heard me."

She gave me a nod. My hand reached for the handgun in my bag and I shoved it into my waistband right before I got out the car.

"some reason you're playing border control?" I asked, having to clear my throat a couple of times.

"Yeah, we got people in town and we need to monitor who comes and goes," She wasn't drawing her weapon, but her stance seemed aggressive.

"Fair enough, but it's a free country."

"Not anymore. We can give you refuge if you submit to a person and belongings search beforehand."

"Just you?"

She bristled at my comment, "Not just me."

She whistled loudly and after a few seconds, two more bodies appeared from further down the turnoff ramp. It was another woman dressed in black and a man. Now that I had gotten a closer look, I could see they were wearing black Kevlar vests. I didn't think that was necessary, I wasn't that unhinged. Maybe they had been attacked before for them to take such precautions. 

"Are the bullet proof vests really necessary?" I was being rather antagonising maybe I should tone it down. 

"There are a lot of dangerous people out there and some want what we have made for ourselves."

"Alright, I'll submit to a search, but if you try to help yourselves to our stuff-"

"We're not bandits." The woman cut me right off. 

"I want to see your faces too" I was playing a bold card. 

They all had on something to obscure their faces like bandannas or giant sunglasses. The woman looked back at the others and the Man shrugged and pulled down the cloth covering half of his face. The others copied his actions and three regular faces stared back at me. The main woman had long hair tied back, and looked around 40.

"Happy?" The leader asked. 

"Not the word I'd use." I muttered

"You have a friend in there?" The man asked, peeking into the car. 

His accent was distinctly Eastern European. His hair was once blonde, the dye sinking further down on his hair, and the natural brown colour taking over. Dying your hair became the least of your worries these days. 

"Yes, and I would appreciate you putting your weapons away. She hasn't seen as much of this new world as you'd think."

A flash of guilt passed over his face and he set down his weapons, as did the others. 

"I'll check the car." The man walked passed me and I took a step towards the vehicle. 

"You stay here," The main woman walked up to me and started to pat me down.

She easily found the gun and pulled it from my waistband.

"I thought you weren't bandits?" I raised an eyebrow

"You'll be getting this back, don't worry. For now, we're going to hold onto this."

She confiscated my gun and deemed me clear. I looked back to see the man gently coaxing Tobin out of the car. These guy's didn't give off a dangerous vibe, just a scared one. Like they had been screwed over one too many times and now won't trust that easily again, kind of like a rescue animal. Tobin looked at me and I jerked my head, telling her to come to me. She got out and shot the man a venomous look, running over to me. She stuck her hand in mine and stood by my side.

"Hello there, what are your names?" Asked the woman who confiscated my gun.

"What's yours?" Tobin countered and I grinned. 

The woman smirked. "Christie, and this is Hope and Jerramy."

Christie extended a hand to me, and after a beat, I took it. "Ash and this is Tobin."

"Nice to meet you two. As you can see, we have some tight security, but it's for a good reason. Would you like to meet the rest of our camp?" Christie asked politely. 

"Did you guys take over the whole town?" I asked, genuinely curious as to how they did that.

"No, but you'll see for yourself. We have a truck at the bottom of the ramp. Grab your car and follow us."

 

 


	42. We Meet Again

Tobin and I got back in the Mazda and started down the ramp, I spotted the Chevy Avalanche at the bottom of the exit and we waited for them to get moving. Christie was saying something to the other two, they nodded and broke apart. Hope and Jerramy headed up the ramp, back to their posts while Christie got into the truck. She peeled out and I set after her.

"Do you think there are good guys?" Tobin asked.

I hate that we had come to classifying people as good or bad guys. 

"I think they're just scared, that's all and that's why they had security in place." I chose my words carefully. 

"That woman looks kinda familiar," She pointed to the truck we were following.

I thought about it, "When would you have seen her?"

"Dunno, but she just does," She shrugged. 

Maybe we had seen her at the school, but I didn't remember much of that other than us trying to escape alive. We were led down the main road for about five minutes when the truck took a right and we copied. The streets had no one living or otherwise on them.

"Do you think there'll be lots of people? Think Alex will be there?" Tobin asked turning to me, excitement lacing her voice. 

"I have no idea; I guess we will find out."

The truck came to a stop in front of an aged, low-rise apartment. I pulled up behind her and Christie got out. She headed towards us so I turned off the vehicle and got out.

"This is what we're protecting." She motioned to the apartment complex.

Curtains were drawn back and faces peered out the various windows at us.

"How many people are living here?"

"About thirty right now. We've had all sorts of numbers, as much as seventy once, but people move on and such."

It was the 'and such' that caught my attention. 

"Why the heavy security screening?" I decided to just get it over with, we could leave easily while we were still outside.

Christie sighed, "You really want me to explain right here?"

"I'm sure as hell not stepping foot inside without some sort of an explanation. I have Tobin to look out for too."

"I have a daughter in there," She motioned to the building, taking a few seconds. "No doubt you've seen those markings on the highway?"

She didn't need to clarify; I knew exactly which ones she was talking about. I nodded. 

"We think they belong to this gang or group or whatever they are and they have been causing all sorts of problems. You see those bullet holes?"

I turned and squinted at the building. Sure enough, black dots lined the outside in various places. It was then I noticed the few boarded up windows and barely hanging on side panelling.

"They attacked you?" I asked. The last thing I needed was to get in the middle of a turf war. 

"Yeah and we lost innocent people and even worse, some of the members had disguised themselves as regular survivors and sought haven here. They took some people, just one or two, but it was...awful," Christie swallowed loudly. "All I've got left now is my daughter and I will not let something like that happen again. After the incident we set up watch shifts at the off-ramp and roof of the building. They keep an eye for intruders and the rest go on small scavenging trips for supplies."

"How did you know they belonged to that group?" I probed. 

"We didn't think anything of it until later, but the ones that kidnapped people and disappeared that night always wore a pendant, right out in the open, that looked like the spray-painted symbol. And they left a huge reminder of who did this." Christie started off down the sidewalk.

I held up my hand for Tobin, silently telling her to remain in the car. Christie brought me around the side of the brown building. A large red hand with an eye marred the side; It must have been like six feet tall. It was like a grotesque calling card, as if saying, "We've been here."

"Shit," I said in a low voice.

"My thoughts exactly."

"Why not move somewhere else?"

"We thought of that, but they would just do this all over again. At least this way, maybe they got what they came for?" Christie shrugged. "We haven't seen them since."

"So Christie, tell me why we should stay here?" I challenged "Versus finding a place of our own in this city?"

She looked at the Mazda "I noticed Tobin had a bandaged arm. We have a nurse staying here that could give her medical treatment. And you seem to have some injuries yourself."

I mulled over it. Tobin seemed fine now; I'd like to think in the end I did a good enough job. The execution may have been poor, but she was alive and well. Although an opinion of her condition by a real, trained medical practitioner was too good to pass up. Not to mention my own.

"Ok but we only need to stay for one night. We're heading to New Orleans tomorrow."

"I wouldn't go there if I were you." Christie warned. "there's nothing left. The sick ones own it now."

"Our people may be waiting there for us. We got separated over a week ago," I admitted.

"What are their names? Maybe we have them inside."

"Alex, Ali, Meghan and Heather," I listed off.

Her face remained passive. 

"Wait, were you in the city months ago, trying to escape?" Christie asked.

"Yeah." Her question was a fair enough guess. Most people would have started out in cities. 

"When my family and I were heading into the shelter, we ran into a woman named Alex. She had a big truck, nice girl."

At her words, it all clicked into place. This was the woman we had to squeeze around in the one-way and Alex had tried to talk her out of going into the city. 

"Small world," My eyebrows shot up. "That's her."

Christie smiled, "Small world indeed."

When we had seen her all those months ago, she had been with her husband and two daughters, yet she now only mentioned one daughter. I didn't think it was appropriate to ask about that, the answer wouldn't be a pretty picture. 

"That's her best friend in the car," I hefted my thumb at Tobin, who was staring intently out the windshield at me.

Unfortunately we don't have any of them inside," She said solemnly.

"I didn't think it would be that easy anyways," I shrugged, still a little disappointed. 

"Now, do you trust me enough to come inside?"

"Depends, can I have my gun back?"

She looked like she was debating it, "Alright, but you can't carry it on you."

"fine."

After she handed me back my handgun, I went back to the car. I pulled into the parking lot behind the building, so the car wouldn't be as easily seen and made sure it was locked. Tobin and I grabbed our backpacks with some supplies before leaving the vehicle. We were met with an armed doorman at the entrance and once he saw Christie, he opened it right away. The lobby smelt of cheap air-fresheners and I could spot the fake coloured pine trees placed all over, like tacky Christmas decorations. 

We introduced ourselves and kept moving. Christie led us down the hallway to a large common area. People were scattered all over the place. A couple of kids were sprawled out on he floor playing a board game. Adults either had a book in hand or were dong something like knitting. It seemed rather cosy. I hadn't seen this many people at once in a very long time.

"Mum!" a little girl in clothes a size too big ran to Christie and threw herself at her. 

"Hey, girly" she hugged her back.

When she unlatched from her, she turned to me, her eyes taking me in, "What happened to you?"

Clearly she was talking about my neck, "Fell down some stairs."

Christie narrowed her eyes, not buying my story.

"Becky can look at it for you, if you want?" the little girl said excitedly. "I'll take you to her!"

We let her lead us from the room of curious eyes into the office across the hallway. She knocked and a stern voice rang out, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal a make-shift doctor's office. There was an ambulance stretcher against the wall and a cabinet with meagre supplies. 

"Yes, Rylie?" asked the lady in green scrubs, who I assumed was Becky.

She had her hair up in a tight bun and glasses perched on her nose.

"These people need an examination," Rylie said quietly. 

The nurse looked pointedly at Christie and she just shrugged. I shuffled my feet; I felt like a burden. 

"The one with the bandage can have a seat." She motioned for the stretcher.

Tobin walked over and climbed on. Becky got up and waved the others out. 

"We'll be right outside if you need anything" Christie said, whether to me or the nurse, I wasn't sure. 

"What happened?" She asked accusingly.

"Cut her arm open on a fence and I had to...glue it."

"Hmm," was all she said as she set into looking Tobin's arm over.

I gritted my teeth. I could already tell we weren't going to get along. Her attitude made me feel three feet tall.

"Clearly you aren't first aid trained, but it did the job and the cut is healing on track," She deduced. "I'm just going to add some more antiseptic and re-wrap it."

When she was done, Tobin got back down and walked over to me. 

"Christie!" Becky bellowed and she opened the door almost instantly

"Take this one to get some food."

"Come on Tobin. You can get some supper with Rylie and I" Christie motioned for her to come. 

She looked over at me. 

"Go get some food; I'll be in here if you need anything."

Slowly she walked to Christie and followed her down the hall, back to the common area. 

"Now, tell me what happened to your neck." Becky crossed her arms and leaned against the stretcher

I had to think about how to word this. How did you explain that a psycho tried to kill you, but you killed him first?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, not who they were hoping to find. Do you think they should have stopped with these strangers? or kept moving?


	43. Safe Place

Becky looked at me expectantly, not unlike an old grade school teacher asking if you were passing notes in class. 

"I had a run-in with a rather unscrupulous character," I said, being purposely vague. 

She didn't need to know my business. She regarded me for a few seconds, like she was waiting to see if she could prompt me into revealing more. When I didn't, she sighed and pushed herself off of the stretcher. 

"Well, have a seat then."

She prodded at my neck, poking at random spots. I didn't giver her the satisfaction of wincing at the pain.

"swallow." She held her hands at the front of my neck. "Does it hurt to swallow or breathe?"

"Not anymore"

"Any random pains?"

"Just from your poking." I said with a little too much force. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Difficulty turning you head?"

I shook my head for emphasis. 

"I think you'll be fine. There doesn't appear to be any permanent damage. The bruising should be gone completely in a few days or so." She dusted off her hands. 

I got up and reached for my backpack, her words stilling my hands. 

"I hope whoever did that to you, got what they deserved."

My backpack jingled with the extra antibiotics I had stashed. We wouldn't need that many, so I pulled out a bottle and placed it on her desk. She looked up and took the bottle in hand.

"Consider it payment," I shrugged as she gazed at me.

"Thank you. These are getting harder to come by," She nodded as she placed them among the other bottles in her cabinet, like a found artifact. 

 

I left the office and headed back towards the common area. The smell of tomato sauce wafted into the hallway. The people inside were all slurping away on spaghetti, but I couldn't see the source. 

"Ash!" Tobin waved at me from one of the plastic tables propped up.

I walked over. Her lips were stained tomato red, like a childish rendition of lipstick.

"Where'd you get the spaghetti from?" I asked, the tangy smell making my stomach growl.

"Apartment 1F, it's just down the hall. Go help yourself to some," Christie instructed.

I put down my backpack and set off in search of hot food. I can't even remember the last time I ate spaghetti. There was a woman inside the apartment kitchen serving up to the line of people. She passed me a plate with a small smile when it was my turn.

"Thank you." I said politely.

"You're most certainly welcome, miss." She winked at me, reminding me of an old neighbour at home. She seemed friendly enough, the corner of her eye crinkling with her action. 

When I got back to the common area, Tobin had already eaten her entire plate. Guilt flared. I had been too preoccupied with the drive that I had forgotten to check to see if she was hungry and she didn't say anything along the way. 

"Want some more?" I motioned to my full plate.

"No, I'm stuffed," She patted her stomach. 

After I scarfed down my food, I noticed that we were getting looks from all over the room. Everyone was curious about the new strangers. Or leery.

"Wanna play cards?" Rylie asked Tobin, clearly happy to have a new face around. 

"Sure, Go fish?" Rylie nodded at Tobin's suggestion and produced a well-used deck. "We're missing a few cards, so we will have to take those out."

When they started, Christie turned to me. 

"Stairs, eh?"

"Yep, they're dangerous Should come with a surgeon general's warning."

"What was the good nurse's verdict?" She leaned in, her elbow resting on the scratched plastic surface.

"Tobin's arm is healing well and no permanent damage for me. Probably the best check-up I've ever had," I answered. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to call this place Hargrove would you?"

Christie grinned, "You heard the broadcasts too? No, we're not them, but some have been trying unsuccessfully to find this place. It's like a needle in a haystack."

So I guess we would still have to keep looking for our oasis in the desert. Luck was not on our side, but a stomach full of hot food was a decent consolation prize.

"well not exactly. Tobin said she heard them with the others a while back. Apparently they liked to keep me out of the loop." I muttered, trying to keep the bitterness from my voice. 

"Is that where you're trying to head to in the city?" I could hear the intense curiosity in her voice, giving away her aloof composure. 

Maybe she wanted to find this place too. I had a hard time believing she would just pack up her daughter and leave this place, but I didn't know enough about her to make judgements. I weighed up the options of telling her about Heather's gun store. We would need all the ammo and guns we could find if they wanted to come with us, that would cut our haul down considerably. If they did come with us, that would be extra bodies to watch our back.

"Eventually yes, Hargrove is the goal," I admitted. "For now we're heading to a gun store that one of our friends owned."

"What makes you think it won't be picked over?"

"Its location."

"And where's that?"

I gave Christie an assessing look and leaned over the table, matching her glance. "Look, you seem like a nice woman, but I don't know you and I feel like keeping that information to myself is probably best."

She looked me in the eye and then finally sighed, "I guess you have just as many trust issues as we do."

"Trust me, it's a recent development," I grinned at my bad pun and so did she.

"Well if you-"

"You guys! It's on!" an elderly woman yelled from the corner. 

People all around the room started to get up and I cast Christie a questioning glance. 

"I guess you'll finally get to hear that recording," Christie said as she hefted herself from the folding chair. 

We all walked over to the lady as she turned the radio knob and hush fell over the room as the announcer's voice stole our attention:

_"Have you been dreaming of a safe place? Some place that you wouldn't always have to sleep with one eye open? Hargrove it that place. Hargrove is more than just surviving; it's a return to civilisation. We have shelter, food, protection, structure and leadership. All are welcome; all are greeted with open arms. All you need to do is seek and we will be there. Join the ranks of our medical practitioners, soldiers, teachers, agriculturalists and you can call Hargrove home too."_

Well, that was one hell of a sales pitch. I've heard more convincing ones from a used car salesman. Murmuring broke out all around us as people digested what we had just heard.

Tobin looked up at me, "That wasn't what it said last time."

"No announcements are the exact same. It's their way of letting us know that they're still alive." Christie said. 

"No directions?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No, I guess not." Christie mused. "Now why would they not say where they were?"

My guess was that it had to do with a sales ploy. Give all the benefits, get all the hype. By the time the location is revealed, everyone will be so worked up having imagined this place in their heads over and over again, that they will run headlong to this community. Kind of like all the Disneyland commercials. All you see is magic and then when you get there, you realise it's all two hour wait times and guys in lice infested costumes. I guess you can call me a cynic, but it's true.

I could feel the buzz of excitement taking over the room. People were already guessing what this place was. 

"Maybe it's a heavily guarded military base."

"Or a gated neighbourhood."

"It could be a bunch of tents out in the middle of a field living like Gypsy's"

I rolled my eyes at the last one. But in the end it didn't matter what it was, it was the only lead I had in finding my friends. I had to find it. A yawn escaped me and I felt the heaviness in my eyelids, like hooks pulling them down. The room was slowly being lit by lanterns as the light outside started to fade. 

"come on, I'll show you to a guest room," Christie motioned us to follow. 

 

I gathered my backpack and Tobin. We followed Christie up three sets of stairs, to the top floor and down the hall. It literally was the furthest into the building you could go and I had a feeling it was for a tactical reason rather than a lack of space. If we decided to leave in the night or do something worse, the creaky floor and stairs would give us away.

She opened the door and revealed a sparsely furnished apartment. There was a sofa bed in the living room that was permanently left down and the rest of the furniture had been pushed off to the side. The kitchen table was propped on its side, pressed against the bay window leaving only the corners for light to peek through.

"It's nothing fancy, but it's a clean bed to sleep in. There's a queen one in the bedroom. The bathroom and Kitchen don't work. If you need to use the washroom, we hooked up a system in one of the first floor apartments."

"Thanks." I nodded as I placed my backpack down beside the sofa bed. 

I noticed the mesh tote full of yarn and knitting needles on the floor beside the pull-out couch. If they thought I was spending my day making scarfs and itchy sweaters, they had another thing coming.

"Well, have a good nights sleep ladies and I'll see you tomorrow." and with that, Christie shut the door behind her.

I walked up to the door, flipped the deadbolt and pulled the chain across, just to be on the safe side.

"Which bed you taking?" Tobin asked, rubbing at her eyes. 

"You take the bedroom, I'll take out here."

She muttered something and then waded into the bedroom. I sat on the bed and laid my head down for the first peaceful sleep I've had in over a week.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I'm spending today typing up the chapters I spent the last week writing. There was quite a few days where I didn't update at all, so today will make up for that.


	44. Bump In The Night

I awoke to the sound of feet running up and down the hallway and screaming. I shot up, having to take a second for the dizziness to dissipate. Dim light was shining through the cracks between the window and the upturned table, allowing me to see; barely. 

"Ash?" Tobin appeared from the bedroom, having been jolted awake like I had. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," I said as I got up and took a look out the glass.

The sky was a gnarled mass of blue tinged clouds. I'd seen only a handful of rainy days here in the last few months and today had to be one? If I was the type, I'd say it was a sign. Luckily I didn't believe in that stuff. A burst of gunfire made me yank my view to the ground where I spotted the source of the commotion.

The surrounding street was littered with infected. They were ambling towards the apartment in unhurried numbers. Christie was on the street showcasing an automatic weapon and two others from inside were out on the street with her. I ran to my bag and rummaged for my handgun. It was loaded with a full magazine and I pocketed some extra bullets just in case. I needed my axe, which I had stupidly left in the car. I didn't want to freak anyone out by bringing in the intimidating weapon. There was a reason the term was axe murderer. 

"Stay here."

"But Ash-"

"This isn't negotiable Tobin."

She looked at me like she had every intention of sticking her tongue out, but just nodded stiffly. I slid the chain lock out and twisted the deadbolt, exciting the stuffy apartment. As I ran to the stairs I noticed some people were hiding in other rooms, huddled on beds and couches. I took the stairs two at a time until I hit the bottom, almost knocking over Becky.

"Help me round up everyone!" She demanded. 

"You do that, I'm going outside to help with the infected," I inched around her. 

"Do you even know how to use that?" Becky eyed the gun in my hand, with a superior look. 

"Care to find out?" I wasn't in the mood to pretend to be pleasant. "Perhaps you should leave the work to the people who know how to defend themselves."

With a glare, she turned from me and headed to the next floor. We both had better things to do than compare cup sizes. I ran down the hallway and found the doorman gone from his post. He must have been one of the others out there. The door behind the desk was wide open, showing the stash of weapons they had. 

I looked around to make sure no one saw and let myself in. The room was the size of a small storage closet and metal shelves lined the tiny area. There was boxes of bullets, guns and various melee weapons. Clearly this room should be locked up tight, but the guard was currently MIA. I'm sure they wouldn't mind me using something if it was to help. 

I quickly scanned the shelves, my eyes landing on the AK-47 and other automatic weapons. I would be no use with those. There was a solid, wood bat that I grabbed and pocketed some extra 9mm bullets. With my borrowed weapon in hand I pushed open the front doors, fat droplets of rain greeting me. The burst of automatic gunfire was echoing in the streets, spurring on the infected. Christie and the others were too afraid to get any closer and it showed with their aim. They were just wasting the bullets as they sailed through the fray.

An infected started to creep up from the side of the building, the rain cleaning off its messy face. Its nose had been chewed off and part of its scalp was torn, hanging like a bad toupee blown off by the wind. It didn't seem to notice me; perhaps the rain obscured our smell. Instead, it started to head towards one of the guards who had their back turned.

I ran to the infected and shoved it from behind. It flew to the pavement face first and I wasted no time in bashing its head in. The guard turned to me, alerted by the commotion and nodded at me when she seen the infected on the ground. I recognised her as the chef from yesterday. She looked like a different person out here with a rifle in hand instead of a serving tong.

I didn't have to worry about cleaning off the bat; the increasing downpour was doing that for me. It was like a veil had formed, obscuring the encroaching infected. Outlines became blurred and were more like dark shadows approaching in the night.

"Are you all that can fight?" I yelled over the rainstorm. 

"Pretty much, unless you want to hand the old ladies an automatic rifle," She held up her gun for emphasis. 

That episode of South Park where the AARP takes over flashed through my head and I was helpless not to laugh. Instead of looking at me like I was insane, the chef smiled.

"What about the others from the roadblock?"

"We tried radioing them, but the storm threw our walkies." She squeezed the gun and a loud burst of bullets shot into the nearest bunch, taking only one down.

"Wouldn't they hear the gunfire?" I yelled.

"In this rain? Unlikely." More bursts of bullets.

"You're not doing any good with that," I said. 

She narrowed her eyes, so I amended my words, "what I mean is that from here, we can't do much in the aiming department. Not to mention the visibility is shit."

"Well then, what do you suggest?" sarcasm laced in her voice. 

"Grab a melee weapon," I showed her the bat, as if she had no idea what melee meant.

"But then we have to get closer!"

"That's kind of the point. They're hard to miss when they're right in front of you," I pointed out.

"That's how you get yourself bitten, miss."

We were wasting time just standing around, so I decided to make a run for Christie who was our lone front line infantry. I started to yell her name as I approached. When I got close enough, she jumped and turned. I ducked just in case she didn't let go of the trigger. 

"Never sneak up on someone with a gun!" She sounded furious. 

"I was yelling your name!" I was quite offended that she thought I was that stupid. "I guess you didn't hear me."

Her face fell, "I think we're screwed. Maybe we should go inside and hold the fort from there."

"That would be fine if there was only a few of them, but I don't think that old apartment building could take a horde of them banging and trying to get inside." The building was in no shape, with all the siding beginning to rot and fall away.

The chef had finally joined us at the front line and so did the other guard I recognised as the doorman. 

"So what's the plan?" She looked at me. I noticed that she had gained a crowbar. 

"We go Babe Ruth on their asses," I hefted the bat up.

"I don't think we should get too close. I've seen what those things are capable of," Christie pointed out. 

"Well no offence," I started, not having the time to sugarcoat my words, "But you guys aren't doing very well with those guns. You're just wasting bullets."

Christie grinned, "Never said I was handy with them. Now give me a hammer and you will be able to see what I can do."

"Would the butt of your gun work?" I asked. 

"It'll have to."

So we descended on the nearest infected like we had a grudge, slashing the tires of an ex's car style. Christie used the butt of her rifle to bash in the heads and the chef used her crowbar to whack the infected down and then the narrow end to stab the head. 

I swing at one and I hit a solid part of the skull My arms vibrated with the impact, almost causing me to drop the bat. The thing stumbled backwards, but didn't fall. With a growl, he turned back, allowing me to see my handiwork. The corner of his skull was now caved in; making his head look like someone had taken the first slice of cake. 

As I wound up for another hit, the chef bounded towards the infected and shoved the sharp end of the crowbar into the back of the infected's head, dropping him as fast as the rain was falling. 

I said my thanks, I almost forgot what it was like to have someone watching your back. After ten minutes, our enthusiasm started to wane. We had run so far that the building was now completely obscured by the sheet of rain. Fallen bodies were all over the street but more were still approaching in the distance.

"I don't know how long we can keep this up," Huffed the chef.

My shoulders shook with the deep breaths I was taking, Inhaling rain drops with each lungful. My hair was matted to my face and I had to wipe it out of my eyes. The rain was making it hard to hold onto the weapon, my grip continually slipping.

"We made a better dent than you did with the guns," I pointed out.

"But now-"

The doorman's words were cut off as the sound of rapid gunfire erupted in the distance and the roar of an engine drifted our way. The large Avalanche came into view, screeching to a halt a few car lengths from us. Hope, one of the guards from the interstate welcoming committee, was sticking out the window with her large automatic weapon propped on the roof. 

"Oh look, skinny Rambo's here," the chef muttered, sounding like a case of sour grapes. 

 


	45. Another Night

I'm not sure if skinny Rambo was accurate, Hope looked a lot more like Debra Morgan than a female Rambo. Although the broad, strong shoulders were there. 

"Anyone injured?" Hope yelled from her perch.

"No, but we're pretty damn tired," Christie yelled back as she approached the truck.

"You guys did a pretty good job," Hope said as if she was commenting on the weather. "You should head back inside," She banged on the top of the truck, "Drive down the street!"

Jerramy hit the gas, jarring Hope but she managed to stay sitting. They sped off into the distance, the rain blanketing them from our sight. The popping of gun fire continued and I felt maybe she had this covered.

"Come on, let them handle the rest," Christie motioned for the apartment. 

Once we got inside, people started to bombard us in the lobby.

"Did you take care of the sick ones?"

"How many more are out there?"

"Can they get in?"

"listen up!" Christie's voice boomed. "We've taken care of the closest ones; Hope and Jerramy are in the truck taking out the rest. Until the rain clears, we can't do much more."

Someone handed me a towel; it was scratchy, but dry. I rung out my hair and wiped off my skin. My clothes were completely soaked through and clinging to me. The chef turned to me as she set down her crowbar.

"By the way, the names Megan. Most folks call me Pinoe though."

"Thanks for having my back out there."

The towel over her head muffled her response, "That's the whole point of community isn't it? To have each other's backs?"

"Sounds good to me." I shrugged.

Tobin came bounding up to me with Rylie on her heels, breaking off to run to Christie. 

"You ok?" she asked concerned.

"Yep, just a little cold." I smiled at her.

"They're back!" the doorman announced as he opened the door for Hope and Jerramy.

A drenched Hope and barely wet Jerramy walked through the door. Pinoe stood a little straighter.

"Well?" Christie prompted. 

Hope ignored her, "We've secured the area. There's nothing more we can do until the rain clears. Once it does, we will send out another party to clean up the mess and get a better handle of what's out there. for now, return to your rooms, keeping light and sound to a minimal. 

Her words were law, so people started to scurry back to their rooms as they were told. I don't think she liked being a leader and having to answer to people. Not that I could blame her, being a leader was a big responsibility. Maybe that's why she let Christie kind of lead the pack.

She walked by us without anymore words, Jerramy right behind her. Becky, who had been peering at us the whole time, her face unreadable among the sea of concerned ones, was now approaching us with her hands full.

"Here are some dry clothes, they should fit you." She passed me the folded clothes. 

"Thanks"

"You can use my office to change," She nodded her head towards the hallway.

I turned to Tobin, "I'll be right back, meet you in the common room ok?"

"Okay. Go get dry before you catch a cold," she scolded.

"I'm going," I put my hands up in defeat. 

 

When I got to Becky's office, I closed the door behind me. I unfolded the clothes she handed me. They were clearly too big, even though she said they should fit. That bitch. I guess they would have to do since I had left the rest of my clothes in the car, thinking we were only staying here for the night. Looks like our trip was postponed until the rain cleared up.

With a deep sigh, I stripped off the sopping wet clothes and they landed on the desk with a wet splat, spraying water everywhere. _Oops, clumsy me_. After I dried off some more, I went to pull over the baggy shirt. Just as I got my head in the hole, the door burst open. I whirled around, trying to yank my shirt down fast.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I demanded as I struggled like a drunk with the shirt.

It was Hope.

"Sorry about that," She looked at the ground.

I quickly pulled on the pants, "There, i'm done."

Hope looked me straight in the eyes "Where'd you get those scratches from?"

"Really? Peeping Tom? That's what you start with?" I placed my hands on my hip.

Geez, no shame with this girl.

she just shrugged and prompted again, "That come from a sick person? It looks like it's been healed for a long time"

These were a nosey bunch of people. "Yes, got scratched by an infected woman months ago, when this all first happened."

"You're immune," she said it so casually. 

"Don't know that. Maybe you have to actually get bitten to become infected." I shrugged as I gathered up my wet clothes. 

"I've seen people turn with a mere fingernail prick from a sick individual."

"Do I look like I work for the CDC? How would I know?"

She regarded me for a second, "Thanks for helping out there and for rounding up those guys. They're not the tightest team I've ever had."

"looks like they did ok to me."

"You know how to use that?" Her eyes flicked over to my gun. 

Oh, and on top of being nosey, they were rude. Why did they think I couldn't shoot?

"Thanks for your concern," I said dryly. "But I was taught by the best." I felt like puffing out my chest.

"You know how to use an AR-15?"

"No idea what that is." This woman had ADD or something, I swear. 

The corners of her lips quirked upwards. "It's a semi-automatic rifle. Pinoe was using one."

I shook my head, "Nope, only used handguns and a hunting rifle."

"We could use another good shot here. Seems we're running low on trained people and able bodies. When the rain stops, I can give you a lesson if you'd like."

I chewed my lip, clearly she was trying to enlist me and to be fair; they really did need more people willing to fight. But I needed to find Heather's gun shop and then Hargrove. Staying here meant a step towards permanence and then what if I never found our group? That wasn't an option. However, maybe they would offer to help if I stayed for a bit.

"I'll think about it."

She nodded, "Let me know." and then she walked back out of the room. 

 

After hanging my clothes to dry and taking a quick shower to warm up in they hookup Christie finagled in one of the main level units, I spent the rest of the day with the others in the common area on high alert. The downpour didn't let up until nightfall and then it was too dark for us to leave. 

I kept joking to Tobin that she was just happy to have another kid to play with. Her and Rylie were currently playing snakes and ladders with erasers instead of the long lost game pieces, Pinoe had managed to make some sort of canned bean salad for supper that was actually pretty good. I should ask for some of her recipes. 

There had only been a couple of infected that had made it to the apartment by the time it got dark. Hope easily dispatched them from the roof, never wasting a bullet. Tomorrow there would be a mass body round-up effort and I was dreading it. My injuries had finally healed from my fall off the fence and I wasn't too keen on re-hurting myself. 

"So, looks like you're stuck here another night, huh?" Christie grunted as she sat down beside me on the couch.

"Looks like it."

"Tomorrows gonna be fun. Dragging wet, dead weight around all day."

"Maybe we'll leave tonight, get a head start." I mused. 

Christie grinned, thinking I was joking, "You finally ready to tell me where you're heading? Maybe we can help."

"Still not ready."

Christie shook her head, "Fine, but don't be afraid to ask for help."

As much as part of me wanted to tell Christie, I had a hard time trusting someone I'd just met. I mean, she seemed like a genuinely nice woman which made it all the more difficult. But she had offered to help, I would have to keep that in mind. 

"Thank you, I appreciate it." I said, sincerely meaning it.

We decided to call it a night, and as we walked to our room, a lone shot reverberated through the building from the rooftop. 


	46. Driving Range

Man, I'm out of shape" Pinoe wheezed as she dragged another body to the truck bed. 

"I could have told you that" Said the doorman, who had introduced himself as Jose earlier. 

Pinoe gave him a glare and Jose smirked in response "Oh, that's hilarious, Mr Hair Gel." His grin fell away to a growl. I had a feeling they bantered like this often.

Hope had us out here pretty much as soon as the sky was lit up. When we started there were puddles of rain water everywhere and now with the high noon sun beating down on us, the puddles had evaporated. I was starting to sweat from the heat and effort, my elbow groaning like an un-oiled hinge. It was kind of worrying; I was a little too young to have joint problems.

All the able bodies had been conscripted into corpse duty, minus the kids of course. A lady as old as sixty was out here with us, making me feel a little bad about complaining. She hadn't made one grouchy remark all day.

Hope shared the bare minimum with us, saying that we would round up all the bodies and dump them in the primary school soccer field. Then use as little gasoline as possible to create a controlled burn. I was not looking forward to that last part. I was already imagining how awful the smell of burnt flesh was going to be. 

After the last visible body had been thrown into the back of the Avalanche and the other red truck, Hope made her announcement.

"Thank you everyone for our cleanup efforts. Please go rest and get something to eat. Christie, Jerramy, Ash and I will take it from here."

I frowned when she included me in her plans, for all she knew I was planning to leave right after this, Christie looked over at me, appreciation on her face. She must have thought I volunteered. By the time we were done, it would be too late to leave again. This stalling was becoming insidious. One day we would look back and realise we had been here for months.

I got in one of the trucks with Christie at the wheel and we took off after Hope in the larger truck.

"You guys do this often?" I asked as I massaged my elbow. 

"Usually its groups of five or so, never this many," Christie looked over at me. "We can get you a Tensor bandage for your elbow when we get back."

"Thanks"

"Did you injure your elbow falling down the stairs too?" Christie smirked. 

"Fence this time."

"sure, sure," Christie said airily, "You sure are clumsy."

I hadn't noticed how prone to injury I was until Christie pointed it out. 

"I'm not clumsy, I'm-" I thought about it. "Accident-prone."

Christie grunted in response. I was about to argue my point further when the school appeared in our sight-lines. We followed the larger truck over the curb and further into the backyard of the school. The grass was worn with tire tracks and a burnt smell, like meat that fell into the barbecue flames, hung in the air. The truck stopped in front of the soccer field, except now it had been transformed into an outdoor crematorium. Various mounds of burnt bodies sat in the centre, ash coating the rest of the field.

I hadn't realised how long I had been staring until Christie patted my shoulder, "Come on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leave this place."

I got out the truck and the smell grew tenfold. Christie handed me a bandanna to cover my face so I tied it to sit on the bridge of my nose. It helped to reduce the smell a little bit. First, Hope had found some pallets to place the bodies on so they burnt better and then we got to work dragging the bodies into their own new pile.

One of the infected's arms that Jerramy was pulling ripped from its decayed socket, muscles dangling like raw meat. He gagged as he picked up the severed arm and threw it on to the pile with its owner.

 

A middle aged infected that I was lugging, lost his wallet in the process so I went back to retrieve the item. I flipped open the generic brown leather wallet to see the smiling faces of a young family. The licence said that this man was 34. Carefully, I placed the wallet in the corpse's hands, making sure it didn't slip out. Various other articles from infected had to be gathered from our hauling efforts and tossed onto the mass grave.

I could hear the gasoline sloshing around in the canister as Hope approached the pile. She poured a fair amount under the base that the pallets had created and sprinkled the rest on top of the pile. The match came to life and she carefully placed it at the bottom where she had poured the most gas. Flames roared and we had to step back from the intensity. Soon the fire started to spread, like trails on a map and the smell couldn't even be covered by the rag anymore. I had to turn away or risk throwing up my breakfast. 

"Go wait in the car, we just got to make sure this catches fire all over, and then we can leave" Hope nodded towards the parked vehicles. 

I didn't have to be told twice as I walked briskly to the truck. The smell wasn't as strong in the vehicle cabin, but I'm sure the smoke would eventually rift over here. It wasn't even the stench of burning meat; it was the disgusting odour of burnt, rotting meat. Christie joined me. 

"The first time we did this, I threw up" she admitted. "You're doing better than I did."

"It's the smell that gets me," I said back, trying to talk and breathe out of my mouth at the same time.

"The first time I had to load a little girl's body into the pile. She reminded me of my youngest daughter," She swallowed thickly. "It was hard."

I was curious about the story behind what happened to her other daughter and husband, but I knew that this wasn't the time to ask. Her voice was rough and she was looking away from me out the driver's window. This was the first time she had mentioned her other daughter. 

Hope waved at us, the pyre casting dark clouds of smoke into the air. She left the field and we followed. After a few minutes it became apparent she wasn't heading back to the apartment. 

"Where's she going?" Christie squinted out the windshield. 

Hope lead us to what appeared to be a golf range. The grass was badly overgrown and unkempt; the large netting was ripped and torn, pieces billowing in the light breeze. Realisation his Christie's face.

"Looks like we're getting some automatic weapons training."

I had figured. Hope was very pushy in a non-direct way. I hadn't agreed to this either, yet here we were. She was very passive aggressive and I found I really didn't like that trait. The parking lot was empty and we stopped right in front of the club house doors. 

We reconvened the Avalanche. I could still see the tip of the smoke clouds in the distance. I had to wonder how far it could be seen and if it would bring people in. Hope was busy pulling out weapons and a large duffel. She handed me a large, black rifle. Surprisingly it weighed less than I thought it would have.

"This is an AR-15, this is what you will be using." Hope said in a very no-nonsense voice. 

"Will I?" I raised an eyebrow. 

She schooled her features, but not before I saw a brief flash of surprise. 

"Being trained to use a weapon is a good thing" She stated her case.

Well, when she put it like that I felt like an ungrateful teenager snubbing their parents advice. I just didn't appreciate that I wasn't consulted on whether or not I would like to participate. 

"Fine, lead the way." I motioned for her to continue. 

 

The small golfing range had been made into a shooting range. Targets had been nailed onto stakes that had been driven into the ground at different distances I noticed the distinct lack of bullet holes in the targets. The shell casings were littered all over the area where we shot from and I could feel them rolling under my shoe. No one thought to rake them up. Jerramy and Christie stood further back observing. Having an audience wasn't going to install confidence. Hope set down her large sack and took the rifle from me. 

"As I was saying, this is an automatic model of the AR-15, which is a military grade weapon. You will have to fight the urge to hold down the trigger because spray and pray will get you nowhere but stranded in the middle of a horde with an empty magazine. Short, controlled bursts are what you want to do. This magazine holds thirty rounds," Hope jammed the black piece into the gun for emphasis. "Some hold more, but the more it holds, the higher the risk for jamming. There are adjustable front and rear iron sights for personalised use." More pointing to the gun, "This model uses two-twenty-three Remington's, but can also use five-fifty-six Calibre rounds."

At that my eyes started to glaze over and I wondered what Pinoe would be concocting for us tonight. Hope must have sensed this. 

"Before I hand you this, I want to see what you can do with that handgun of yours."

She was testing me. Nothing like pressure to make your aim better. I took out my handgun and flicked off the safety. I aimed for the middle distance target, taking a deep breath. If I was going to show off, I needed to make sure I hit it. With two shots, I hit the middle right area of the target I was aiming for. I turned to Hope, her face saying nothing; the only movement from her was the rubbing of her thumb along her jawline. It was unnerving. 

"Who taught you how to shoot?"

"One of my friends, Heather."

She handed me the AR-15 and I guess I must have passed her entry level test. The gun was slightly heavier now that she had loaded the magazine into it. She showed me how to move the sights so it worked better for me. They were kind of similar to the ones on the handgun; only these were able to be adjusted. I propped it up and against my shoulder. It was like I was holding my old hunting rifle again, except more dangerous. 

I found myself nervous holding the weapon. It could do so much damage with just one trigger pull. I swallowed and calmed my heart rate. I squeezed the trigger lightly and the guns kickback made me jerk backwards, the gun muzzle lifting into the air. The bullets flew into the sky, far from my targets. The gun settled back down and I took my finger from the trigger and turned to Hope.

"I don't think I like these."

"Don't feel too bad, you should have seen Christie when she first started. Try again."

And so It went until I was finally able to control the kickback and not ruin my aim. The metal tinging sound of bullets hitting the metal sign targets started to sound. I had to reload the magazine a couple of times from the amount of bullets I was using. And my arm was beginning to get sore from the weight and kickback of the unfamiliar weapon. I had to set it down and stretch it out, my elbow acting up again.

"You learn quickly," Hope nodded.

"Only because I've been taught this before," I admitted. "Well, for a handgun anyways."

"Sick ones!" Jerramy yelled out. 

We looked around us and indeed infected had started to congregate. Some were heading right for the shredded netting and others were beginning to stumble into the parking lot. Considering we were not in a big city, this place sure had a lot of infected. Maybe having so many survivors in one place drew them in like moths to a lamp post.

"Time to put your new skills to the test," Hope said quickly as she pulled out another automatic rifle from the duffel bag. 

I hefted the weapon back up as Christie and Jerramy ran to us, pulling out their own weapons.

"We need to clear the parking lot first," Hope ordered as she pulled the bag over her shoulder. 

She let out a burst and the two reaching for the truck dropped. The rest were well into the distance, we would have seen them had they got any closer. One was trying unsuccessfully to get through the overgrown bushes and Hope jerked her head to that one. 

Well, I guess that one was mine. I aimed for the torso, not trusting myself to hit its head from here. The gun jerked and the infected flopped down face first in the bushes. Thick, discoloured blood ran down the green foliage leaving a greasy trail behind. I hadn't meant to hit the thing in the head, but that's what I did. good thing I aimed lower because the kickback was still forcing the gun up slightly.

"Wish I had learned that quickly" Christie sounded impressed. 

"That makes two of us," Hope said, not trying to be funny. Christie shot her an offended look.

We ran to the trucks, wasting no time as we jumped in and peeled out of the parking lot that was now becoming an infected meet and greet. 

 

 


	47. Leader?

Christie clipped one of the infected on our way out, spinning it like a top towards the hard tarmac. 

"Shit!"

Hope was hanging out the passenger window again, shooting while Jerramy drove. She was rather good, that I had to admit.

"You think you're ready to do that?" Christie asked, sounding like she was only half joking. 

"I'm going to go with, hell no" With my luck I'd fall out and break something this time.

"We can't bring the sick ones back with us," Christie gripped the wheel until her knuckles went white, her forehead crinkled. 

"I could probably do some damage if you stopped near the infected," I suggested. 

"But Hope is still moving," Christie argued.

"So? do you want to help or not? We're not doing any good just following behind them, unless you plan to play a game of hit and run with the infected!" I had to control the laughter that was threatening. 

Her lips formed a hard line, but she stopped the truck. There were infected all over this road. We must have intercepted them on their way to the golf range. I hit the button and my window rolled down. I leaned out the window so I was sitting on the ledge, my gun and elbows resting on the top of the cabin. I let out a few bursts, taking out the closest ones. Having a surface to prop the gun on helped with my aim immensely as it took some of the weight off.

One of the infected I shot went flying back so hard, its feet lifted off the ground. This gun definitely had some power. Christie had rolled down her window and started to shoot at the ones on her side. Her aim wasn't horrible, but she was wasting half the bullets she shot. When everything was still around us, I crawled back into the cabin. 

"Shit, Hope's gone." Christie muttered. 

"Whatever, we'll catch up." I motioned for her to go. 

The street was lined with dead infected from Hope's drive-by shooting. So we just followed the fallen. We took a right and saw that Jerramy had stopped the truck and Hope was shooting all around. The majority of the infected were grouped here, like they were travelling in packs. Christie pulled up a few car lengths away and she jumped out to help. I propped myself out the window and on the roof again, liking the stability it created. 

I had to focus on not just leaving my finger on the trigger, but rather releasing it for controlled bursts like Hope had said. I stopped counting the downed infected at ten. This gun was killer, in all senses of the word.

My ears rang with the echoes of the automatic gunfire long after we had stopped shooting. Hope looked back at us. 

"Alright, let's head back." She yelled across the distance. 

I stuffed myself back in the cabin, removing the empty magazine. It was hot and I had to set it down, along with the muzzle of the gun I had pointed to the floor. We drove the rest of the way in silence until we were parked back in the lot behind the apartment. 

"That was some good shooting," Christie praised. 

"Thanks," I shrugged it off.

"Were you ever a team Captain or anything?" Christie asked, out of the blue. 

I knocked my head back, "Ah, no?" she had thrown me for a loop with her random question. 

She smiled, "You just seem to be good at taking the lead, that's all"

She exited the vehicle without any more to say, leaving me to think about her words. I never seen myself as a leader, especially lately with Heather taking the forefront. Was I unconsciously doing it?

When I got back inside the building, I handed the gun and magazine back to Hope and she re-locked up the weapons in the guarded storage room. 

"After we get something to eat, Jerramy and I will go back to road patrol," Hope said. "Mal, I need you to take roof duty and Jose you need to keep a stern eye on the street. We ran into a bunch more sick ones while we were out."

Mal was just a kid to look at, no more than 20 but she was very gifted with a sniper rifle. She grabbed the weapon from the lockup and headed up the stairs. Jose nodded, "Will do."

Everyone broke apart, like football players from a team huddle. Hope stopped long enough to take me aside. 

"You did pretty good out there; can I trust you to keep and eye out while I'm gone?"

"What about Christie?" I pointed out. 

Hope's jaw shifted, "Christie is a nice woman, but she's not really made for leadership like this."

"And I am?" I asked, a shade shocked. 

"You're getting there." That was all she said as she walked away, leaving me with my mouth hanging open slightly.

 

When she came back I would have to tell her to stop making me do stuff without asking first, it was annoying. Now I felt the chains of responsibility and wouldn't feel right about leaving today with the others gone. I felt like punching a wall. I always wondered before why people would do that; frustration was the answer. My blood was starting to boil. Hope had no right; I wanted to leave just to spite her. But the anxious faces of the other's in here stopped me and my shoulders slumped. 

"What took so long?" Tobin demanded as she walked up to me, her arms crossed. 

I turned to her, reining in my anger, "Field-trip."

"Are we gonna stay again?" She asked. 

"Looks like it. You okay with that?" I looked at her. 

She shrugged, "If we have to. I kinda like it here, but we have to find Alex though."

"So, did Pinoe say what was for diner?" I tried to change the subject. 

"Dunno, me and Rylie were playing cat's cradle. I'm not very good at it," She muttered.

"Well keep at it you child, if you're good you might get a colouring book." I joked. I was glad Tobin had someone around that kept her mind off things, even if it was a kid.

 

I set off down the hall, looking for Pinoe. I needed someone to vent to and Christie probably wouldn't appreciate what Hope had said. Plus I liked Pinoe; she was easy to get along with. I found her in the apartment they were using as the kitchen.

"Smells good." I sniffed the air. It was a welcome reprieve from the burning stench earlier. 

"It's meatloaf surprise," She made a motion like a magicians assistant towards the oven.

"Where'd you get the meat from?" I asked suspiciously.

A grin spread across her face "That's the surprise!"

I'd like to think she was joking. My thoughts must have been on my face because she laughed. 

"I'm just kidding. It's not really meatloaf; It's more like a casserole. Jerramy found a deer wandering two days ago."

"Deer? in a casserole?" I couldn't help but sound sceptical. 

"Just you wait," She winked. "So what brings you to my kitchen?"

"Hope volunteered me to watch the apartment building."

Pinoe looked serious for a second, "Never really liked her. She's like a Quiet military type. They should be loud and banging their fists on their chest." She made he motion like a Gorilla and I chuckled. 

"She's sneaky." I admitted. 

"Ah, you see it too. She kind of has a roundabout way of making you feel like it's your duty to stay here."

"Exactly, she said Christie wasn't really made to be a leader."

I picked up a bottle with masking tape around it. The label read Secret ingredient. I shook it and it sounded like sand rattling. 

"I made my own spice concoction," Pinoe said proudly. "You can take the fancy kitchen from the chef, but not the chef from the kitchen." She took the bottle from me; as if I would drop it. "And Christie has been through a lot, I don't blame her."

My ears perked up at that. Maybe Pinoe could finally tell me the story. 

"Is it because of what happened to her Husband and other daughter?" I hedged. 

Pinoe looked shocked, "she told you about them?"

"No, but it's not hard to put together. Tell me."

Pinoe sighed, "I'm a terrible gossip. She told you about the attack, right?"

I nodded, remembering Christie's tale.

"Well her husband was shot dead during the attack. We had to watch her and another carry him outside and bury him. There's a grave in the empty lot that she dug for him that she goes to every morning," pain laced Pinoe's words. 

I could only imagine how hard that would have been. Poor Christie. Her poor little girl.

"And her daughter?" I probed. 

"She was taken," Pinoe let her words hang in the air. 

"By the gang people?"

"Yeah, they took her and one other woman that night," Pinoe looked around, like she was checking for eavesdroppers. "I think they took her for a reason."

Dread settled in my stomach. Pinoe said they hadn't only taken women, but it was still suspicious. A shiver ran down my spine, like melting ice. I was reminded of when I got locked in the police station. 

"What you mean?" I leaned in. 

"The woman taken had been bitten numerous times by sick ones. She was immune I guess. Christie's daughter, she once told me she had survived an attack."

I froze. There was other's like me? My hand itched to move to my side, but I forced it to remain still. Now, I would have to hide the scratches for a different reason. What would the kidnappers want with immune people? They were just thugs; they couldn't do anything about the infection. The ice in my spine returned. 

"What do you think they need them for?" My voice steady.

"Who knows?" Pinoe shrugged. "It's just a theory anyways, trying to make sense of a senseless situation I suppose."

"Did anyone try to look for them afterwards?"

"Christie threw herself into it, but eventually put that on hold because she still had one daughter to keep it together for. Hope also canvased around, finding nothing for leads," Pinoe answered.

"How's dinner coming along?"

We both jumped at the sudden intrusion. It was Becky, who narrowed her eyes at the two of us. She walked over and held out her hand.

"Christie asked me to bring you this." In her grasp was a Tensor bandage for my elbow

I took it from her "Thanks"

"Let's see your elbow first" Becky jerked her chin towards my arm. 

I manoeuvred so she could examine it. She gripped my wrist and forearm firmly and began to bend the sore joint. At least it hadn't swelled. I winced when she fully extended it.

"You may have cracked a bone; make sure you wear this brace and don't hyper-extend it. I have some anti-inflammatories in my office to help with pain and stiffness. Come and grab some later."

"Thanks again." I said as I slipped on the tight bandage.

The pressure already seemed to help with the pain. 

"You're welcome, and don't forget." She nodded. "It looks like we could use you at one hundred percent."

Whatever she meant by that. It looks like Hope wasn't the only one trying to make me stay. 

"Supper should be ready in about twenty minutes." Pinoe stated, not to be left out. 

"Good, people are starting to get hungry," Becky turned on her heels and walked out. 

Pinoe rolled her eyes and I grinned. I like this woman. 

Supper had actually taken closer to forty minutes to be finished. Pinoe had to add the right amount of seasonings at the right time. I tried telling her that nobody really cared about how much dill she used, they were just going to inhale it anyways and she looked like I had just slapped her with her own spatula.

True to her word, it was delicious. I was a true believer now. After supper Tobin and I played charades against Christie and Rylie. We all face palmed when Christie failed at miming being a baby. She just rolled on the ground and Rylie had no idea what the hell she was doing. We eventually gained an audience as people laughed at the things we were doing and added new ideas to the hat. It was kind of fun. 

Our audience chimed in taking a guess at what Christie was doing. Currently she was trying to mime Harry Potter to Rylie and was pointing to her forehead and then jerking her hand forward like she was using a fly swatter. Rylie just sat there, with a confused look on her face while people yelled in the background. 

"Headache? Tylenol?"

"Teacher?"

"Psychic?"

At least that one was closer. The timer buzzed and she threw her hands in the air. 

"Harry Potter!"

"Mum, that was terrible!" Rylie shook her head. 

Tobin laughed from her spot on the couch beside me and even I had to laugh. She was awful at this. 

"Alright I'm done." Christie sighed as she plopped down on one of the chairs. 

 

At this point everyone had returned except Hope. Jerramy was clutching his walkie while he sat in the corner. Mal had left her post on the roof. It was dark out and there was no point in staying up there. Jose had joined us as well, but his eyes always drifted back to the front hallway. Pinoe had formed her own team with one of the older ladies and was now centre stage, miming a pirate but the lady didn't seem to get it. 

I wondered why Hope hadn't come back. All Jerramy had said is that she told him to go get some rest, that she would radio him if he was needed. But he didn't seem to want to sleep. I had a feeling they were together, even though when they were beside one another they never hinted at any romantic attachment. Hope always seemed to be anywhere but here except for the briefest of moments. Not the most involved leader. 

Christie got up from her spot, "Alright guys, time to turn in."

Her announcement was met with a chorus of booing from the audience but everyone began to migrate to their rooms. I looked at the clock, it read just past nine PM. It had been a tiring day; I was wiped and secretly glad for the early bedtime. I ushered Tobin upstairs. In less than twenty minutes the apartment went from lively to more quiet than a church mass.

I was about ready to sleep when the faintest of lights crossed over the semi-boarded up window in my room. I walked over and looked out. On the ground directly below my third floor window was Hope and two guys I had never seen before. They were all holding flashlights, the bright LED kind. They seemed to be angrily discussing something and one of the men handed Hope a large, overstuffed bag. Once she took it, Hope pointed straight to my window. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last update of the day. Let me know what you think of today's updates.


	48. Knitting Time

I ducked to the side, hoping they hadn't seen me; my heart racing like it wanted out of my chest. I peeked back out when the flashlight beam stopped shining in the window. The men both had weapons on their belts, which I failed to notice at first glance. They broke apart and the two men headed for the front door. 

I swallowed knowing this was bad news. But what the hell do I do? I shut the bedroom door quietly and decided to go find Christie, dread settling in my stomach. I had just reached the apartment door when I heard a gunshot and someone scream downstairs. I threw open the door to find others sticking their heads into the hallway.

"Get back in your rooms and lock the door!" I commanded. 

One by one the doors closed and heads disappeared, listening to my instructions. I could hear heavy footfalls coming up the stairs and then one of the strangers from outside hit the landing fast. His face whipped down the hallway, his eyes locking with mine. Panicked, I slammed the door and flipped the deadbolt and the chain. I backed up a few feet as I saw the door handle twist. The door vibrated with a loud bang as he tried to get inside by ramming it. 

"What is that?" Tobin asked, her eyes wide. 

"Get back in your room and hide!" I pointed and she scurried back inside. 

I backed up further as the banging intensified. With one last hit, the door flew open landing flat on the scuffed floor. The hinges and locks had been forced out the wall, the aged wood not able to stand against the barrage. The intruder fell with the door but was getting up quickly. He looked up at me, no expression on his face. Without a word he got up and started towards me. I turned and ran to the sofa bed, my attacker quick on my heels. 

I needed something to use as a weapon and my gun was stashed at the bottom of my backpack.  _Fucking think of something!_ My eyes spotted the knitting paraphernalia in the bag on the floor and as I dashed over the sofa bed, I grabbed one of the metallic needles sticking out. I rolled to the other side of the bed, but realised I had trapped myself. The man stood on the other side of the pullout couch, mirroring my moves as I moved from side to side like a trapped animal. He knew, that I knew I had nowhere to go. He placed a boot on the bed and hoisted himself up. I tried to run around the end of the bed but he lunged for me at the same time. 

We hit the wall and fell on the floor, him half landing on me. My whole side screamed in pain from the impact and I yelled out. I heard him make a pained sound, confusing since I was the one who took the brunt of the tackle. I struggled with everything I had, but eventually registered that he was slowly slipping off of me. He lifted his head, confusion awash on his paled face, and then looked down. I followed his gaze to see the knitting needle sticking out of his chest. 

Hot blood was pouring from the wound and I could feel it trickling down my arm. He made a wheezing sound and with a final shove, I got him off of me. He rolled onto his back, the needle still protruding from his chest. I shuffled back from him just in case. His hands were shaking pointlessly beside the knitting needle; he must have been in shock. His breathing was laboured and blood was spewed with each exhale. I must have hit a lung. 

He had run headlong into the sharp end of the weapon, taking himself out. That could have been me if I had been holding the needle the other way. My veins were now frozen with liquid nitrogen at the thought.  _I could be the one dying right now._

My head flew to the busted door when it groaned from added weight. The other stranger was standing on it. He took in the scene with a passive face, his eyes landing on his fallen comrade and my retreating form.  _Now what do I do?_

"Ash, are you ok?" The bedroom door inched open and my heart leapt in my throat. 

The man sprinted towards the bedroom as the door slammed shut. In my fear addled state, I managed to rip the needle form the man on the floor. He groaned in pain and blood now gushed from the wound, the needle no longer clogging the hole. I ran for the other man, my only concern was not letting him get to Tobin.

I tackled him with all the force I could create, swiping at him with the bloody needle. He was far stronger than I was and he shoved me back, swinging my body. I was flung to the small kitchen floor and slid back until my head connected with the hard corner. Dots of light and blackness coated my vision, my sight not working properly.

He took a step towards me, then must have thought different as he went back to the bedroom door. I tried to call out but my voice wasn't working. My consciousness waved, darkness cascading over my eyes. The last thing I heard was a scream before I was drowned in blackness.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep getting asked about the other characters, and where they are. Instead of answering all the comments I will answer it here instead. IF characters die, you will know they're dead. They won't just disappear. I understand they've been split up for quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're dead. It would be pointless splitting them all up for them then to find each-other the next day. They don't have phones to text each-other and ask to meet up at Starbucks!


	49. The Mole

It was weird. I was having an out of body experience of dreaming. I could hear others talking around me, but couldn't move or talk. The voices sounded like Christie and Becky but I wasn't sure. My brain wasn't working right, everything was jumbled. 

"...do with him?"

"Shot him..."

"Concussion..."

"...where's Hope?"

At that, I tried to pull myself out of whatever state I was in. My fingers finally twitched at my command. Consciousness became clearer. I could sense light all around me. 

"She's waking up, pass me that!" A female voice demanded. 

I felt hands on me, "Ash!" 

"Wha?" I tried to speak but my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. 

"Don't try to speak," the female voice commanded. 

My eyelids opened, like a blind being yanked up on a window. I had to re-close them when the light burnt my eyes. A wave of nausea rolled over me in a fierce way. I turned and heaved. 

"Here!" Someone passed me a pail shaped item.

My arms wrapped around it as my stomach emptied its contents. Tears burned my eyes from the force and my head throbbed like an open wound.  _Thud, Thud, Thud._ My head pounded in an increasing tempo. More nausea. More vomit. Until my stomach was completely void of contents. I was finally able to take a breath as the retching and rolling in my stomach subsided. 

I slowly cracked my eyelids open to reveal two concerned faces. Becky and Christie were staring intently at me. 

"Tobin?" I croaked. 

"Tobin's fine. She's in the common room." Christie answered quietly.

My body sagged as relief made my muscles lax.

"Do you know where you are?" Becky asked, her voice as clinical as her office.

"Your office." I answered. 

I had spotted the desk behind them and the cabinet against the wall. She must be testing my head injuries. 

"Good, do you know what happened to you?"

I swallowed, my mouth tasting like sour battery acid, "I hit my head."

"Yes, you have concussion. Do you remember being attacked?" She asked me in a soft tone. 

"Yes, two men. I got one and was thrown by the other."

"Are you still feeling nauseous?"

"No."

She took the garbage can from me. 

"I want you to stay lying for a little while longer. Then you can get up slowly." She instructed. 

I obeyed, "Can I have some water?"

Becky moved to her desk and came back with a water bottle with a straw in it. "Sips only."

She allowed me to hold the bottle as I took small drinks. The water helped to wash away the acid taste and sooth my burning throat.

"What happened to the other man? Did he get to Tobin?"

"I heard her scream as I was already heading up the stairs," Christie replayed. "I seen you unconscious on the ground and found the guy trying to subdue Tobin. He pulled a gun on me, but I shot first." Her face was pinched. 

My eyes closed as I groaned. I had failed again at protecting her, and now she witnessed a man get shot. 

"She's doing well considering." Becky added. "She's been here every five minutes demanding to see you, banging at the door."

I smiled at that.

"What about the other guy?" I opened my eyes again. 

"Dead. His lung collapsed and couldn't breathe," Becky said matter-of-factly. 

She was basically saying he drowned in his own blood. I felt sick again and it had nothing to do with the concussion.  _Two people now that have died at my hands._ A few more and I'd be considered a serial killer. I let out a harsh laugh.

Christie and Becky shared a look. I knew that look, Ali used to give it to me. They were concerned for my mental well-being. 

"You did what you had to. Just like me," Christie tried to reason. 

"Mmm" Was all I replied with. 

She didn't understand, neither of them could. 

Becky sighed, trying to change the subject. "I have a feeling you were the person always in the nurse's office in school. Oh, and thanks to you I won't be getting any sleep tonight; having to wake you up every three hours."

I could tell she was trying to make a joke, but either she wasn't very good at them or I just was beyond that right now. I felt my head; a bandage had been wrapped around it and a chunk of gauze stuck out in the back.

"You have a pretty bad concussion, but the bleeding has stopped and I sutured you up while you were out," Becky continued. "Only took three stitches as the cut wasn't deep, it was more the impact that was the problem."

Great, another injury to add to the growing list. I heard banging at the door.

"Is she awake?" A voice demanded from the other-side of the door.

Christie walked over and opened it. As soon as she did, Tobin burst through and ran to the stretcher I was on. 

"Ash! Thank God you're okay!" Her face was right beside mine. 

I could see her eyes were red and tear streaks down her cheeks. 

"Hey, kid. Yep, I'm going to be okay as per the good nurse Becky," I smiled at her. 

Tobin looked over at Becky as if for confirmation and the nurse nodded. Tobin turned back to me, her smile wavering. 

"I was so scared." Tears welled in her eyes. 

My vision blurred in response, but I blinked away the tears. I was beyond happy that she was okay, but rotten with guilt that she had to go through that.

"Want to know something? I was too, but we got through it." I offered and she nodded. 

"Yea, we sure did."

"She's alive!" Pinoe boomed from the entrance and then came over to the increasing spectacle. 

"It would seem so," I said back. "Can I try to sit up now?"

Becky grabbed my forearm, "Alright, but slowly!"

My body creaked as I sat up slowly, the edges of my vision swimming but steadying with each breath. Becky was watching me closely, making sure I didn't pale and pass out again. I blinked a few times to clear my eyes, but I was stable. She finally let my arm go when she saw I was going to be alright. 

Pinoe lifted her arm, "Here's a juice box, you need some sugar and calories to get your strength back."

With a slightly trembling hand, I took the drink from her, slowly sipping. It was grape, not my favourite flavour but I was grateful.

"If you can keep that down, we'll give you some solid food in a bit," Becky added, returning to her desk.

"How long was I out?" I had no idea how much time had passed. 

"Forever!" Tobin threw her hands in the air.

Becky gave us a rare grin, "More like two hours."

"Did anything else happen?" I needed to tell them about Hope, but I had to tread carefully. 

She was involved in this, I just didn't know how much. Hope clearly took that bag in exchange for telling them where my room was. She had seen my scratches and knew I was immune. It all started to click into place. That was why she stalled me leaving, involving me so I remained here until those gang people could come grab me. She's lucky I was so weak or I'd kill her myself, one step closer to that serial killer title.

I started to shake with anger and Becky rushed to my side. 

"Do you feel like you're going to faint again?"

I took a deep breath through my nose, trying to contain my rage, "Tobin can you grab me some food? I think i'm good to eat."

Tobin's eye's widened, "Sure can. Be right back." She took off out the door. 

"Close the door." I jerked my chin towards the exit. 

Pinoe went and shut it, coming right back, "What is it?"

I had to make sure I worded this right. Maybe I would be better if I started off with a bit of show and tell. I started to move off of the stretcher.

"Hey, you don't need to stand yet." Becky insisted. 

"Trust me." I said, as I steadied my feet.

All eyes were on me. I lifted my shirt to reveal the scars that ran up my side and realisation lit up Pinoe's face. Christie's was a mask of anger and Becky peered curiously. 

"These are from an infected person. I got them months ago and never turned." I went on "Hope seen these the other day and deduced that I was immune. I knew she was up to something when she kept trying to keep me here and then before the attack, I seen her with those two guys out my window. She took a bag from them and pointed to the apartment I was in, and then they came after me."

There was a stunned silence in the room. I didn't need to be a mind reader to know what they were thinking. Pinoe's theory. Christie's daughter and dead husband. Becky's clinical logic. They were putting together the pieces.

"Are you sure it was Hope?" Becky finally asked. 

"One hundred percent."

"I believe you," Pinoe nodded. "I always thought she was off."

"Alright, how do we proceed from here?" Becky questioned. "I mean, we need a little more evidence than just what you seen."

"I'd say it's pretty damn incriminating." I shot back "How else would you explain it?"

"Make's sense." Pinoe crossed her arms. "She's always made these extraordinary finds. Like military weapons and rations while on a run. I'm willing to bet that the bag she got was filled with useful items."

I nodded. That bag wouldn't have been filled with hundred dollar bills. Money was useless now, but weapons and food were gold. Whatever was in that bag, Hope considered me worth it.

"But why?" Becky asked. 

"I'm immune. Pinoe has a theory about it and I think she's right." I touched my side. 

Pinoe told them what she had told me in the kitchen.

"That's just all circumstantial," Becky played devil's advocate. "It it true Christie? Was your daughter bitten?"

I just realised Christie hadn't said one word since I revealed my scratches. She was tense, her fists tightly clenched at her side. Instead of answering, Christie stormed out of the room, the door slamming against the wall. We all looked at each other and followed her out of the room. I had to take a few shaky steps, but I was alright to walk.

She rounded the corner to the common room and ran up to Jerramy. 

"Where is she?" She demanded. 

Jerramy was shocked into silence. Christie grabbed his forearms and shook him.

"Where's Hope?" She yelled into his face. 

Pinoe grabbed Christie and yanked her off Jerramy.

He looked at us confused. "I-I don't know. she's still out I think."

Luckily the common room was empty. Everyone had been commanded to stay in their rooms with the doors locked. Only a few people who knew how to use weapons were down here. Tobin and Rylie chose that moment to appear, their arms full of food.  _I didn't need that much._

 _"_ Mum?" Rylie asked hesitantly.

Her shoulders stiffened and Christie turned to her daughter, "Tobin, can you take Rylie to our room please."

Her daughter looked like she was about to cry. I'd never seen Christie like this and I don't think Rylie had either. I walked over to them and took some of the food from their hands. 

"Thanks guys for getting me food, but Rylie, you need to let Tobin take you to your room now, ok?" I asked softly.

"Do you think the bad guys are coming back?" Rylie asked. 

"We don't know, but you need to stay safe in your room. I'll explain later, I promise."  _The abbreviated truth anyways._

Tobin looked at me and nodded, her face serious. She turned to Rylie, "Come on, we'll go to your room." With Tobin leading her out, they walked upstairs. 

Christie was so agitated that she had started to pace. Jerramy retreated as far from her as he could and stern eyes watched Christie walk her circuit. I had no idea what to do. I hadn't expected this from Christie, but her daughter was missing and her husband had died. Someone was going to pay.

 


	50. Face To Face

Christie continued to pace as the time ticked by. It had been an hour and Hope still hadn't shown her face. As far as she knew, we were all oblivious to her involvement. We hadn't let Jerramy leave; he would more than likely warn her. I used this time to eat some of the food the girls had rounded up. I was able to eat the crackers and drink another juice box, but my nerves were preventing me from eating anymore. 

We barely talked other than explaining what had happened to Jerramy. He vehemently denied that Hope could have done anything like that until he was red in the face. Pinoe had said that he was too close to Hope to see clearly and I swear Jerramy considered punching Pinoe in the face. 

Pinoe came over to me, taking a cracker from the box. 

"What should we do?" Pinoe almost whispered. 

I set down the piece I was nibbling on.  _Why did she ask me?_

"I don't know," I said back just as quietly. "Short of locking Christie up, there's nothing we can do until Hope shows up."

Becky joined our little think-tank, "This will go really badly once Hope shows up, Christie is just getting angrier."

We all looked over at Christie. I could almost feel her waves of anger.

"We need to intercept Hope before Christie does something," I suggested. "Maybe handcuff Hope as soon as we see her. The element of surprise is all we have."

"There are some zip-ties in the storage room, I'll go grab some." Pinoe took off in search of our secret weapon. 

Jerramy glared suspiciously at us, but remained sitting and chewing his nails. Pinoe came back and showed only us the black zip-ties in her coat pocket. 

"How do we do this?"

"Unless there's a secret entrance you guys didn't tell me about, there's only one way in," I strategized. "Maybe have someone strong open the door when Hope comes in so that they're behind her. We will talk to her and distract her attention, while the person behind her tackles her to the ground and we tie up her hands behind her back."

"Why not just grab her?" Becky asked. 

"She's big and strong. I don't know about you, but i'm weak at the minute from my injuries and Pinoe is a good couple inches shorter and Hope has her build on her. I wouldn't fancy any of our chance's one on one" I replied. 

"I take it i'm to be the doorman?" Pinoe raised an eyebrow. 

I bit my lip, "Sorry, but i'm too bashed up to do it."

"You should probably get up there then," Becky said. "Who knows when she might return."

Pinoe grumbled, but went to go play doorman and give Jose a break. Jerramy watched her disappear with narrowed eyes. He got up, but the glare Christie sent had him returning to his seat. I didn't see Mal down here with the sniper rifle; she must have gone back to the roof. There were only seven of us in the common room in total. Hardly a worthy defence.

Becky grilled me again on how I was feeling. My head was starting to throb where the wound was, so she went to get some painkillers. She still hadn't returned when I heard a loud cough from the front. Pinoe must have been signalling that Hope was here. I got up.

"I'm just going to bring her a water bottle. I'll be right back. Tell Becky if she comes back before me," I announced, trying to sound aloof.

Christie looked suspicious, but returned to her fidgeting. I slowly walked to the entrance.  _Please let this work._ I was in no shape to fight and this would be messy if we had to resort to that. Pinoe jerked her head to the doors as I approached. 

"Just seen the truck headlights pull up."

A figure was becoming more visible as it came closer to the front door. 

"Hand me the ties!" I hissed as I got to Pinoe. 

This was not very well planned out, but I had myself to thank for that. I grabbed the ties and retreated back as I stuffed them up my sleeve. Pinoe opened the door and Hope walked through. I made It look like I had just come around the corner and approached the door. 

"What happened?" Hope had the gall to ask.

"There was another attack," I started as I seen Pinoe prepare. 

With a punch to the head, Pinoe flattened Hope. They flew to the door and I ran up to them as fast as I could. Hope had been shocked but was recovering as she tried to buck Pinoe off. Pinoe had managed to gather Hope's hands and I tightened the zip ties around her wrists, binding them together. 

"What is this?" She demanded, bringing in our audience from the other room.

With her arms secured behind her back, Pinoe yanked Hope up. Christie made a dash towards Hope, her eyes full of pain. I jumped in front of Hope, intercepting Christie. 

"Settle down! We need to do this the right way!" I yelled. 

Christie shoved me out of the way and before I could grab at her, she took a swing straight at Hope. I heard the sound of cartilage snapping and when I looked back at Hope, her nose was bent to the side and blood began to trickle down her lips. Pinoe let go of Hope in favour of restraining an enraged Christie. Hope fell backwards with a groan, her arms still behind her back. Jerramy went to run to her but Becky got in his way.

"No you don't," She calmly said to Jerramy. 

Jerramy's hand flew to his belt. 

"I don't think so." One of the older ladies pointed her gun at Jerramy.

We all stood frozen. Christie was still struggling against Pinoe to get to Hope. 

"Christie you need to calm the fuck down," I pointed at her. "We won't get anything out of her if you beat the shit out of her."

I walked up to Hope and she eyed me through narrowed slits. I leaned down, hovering over her side. 

"I'm sure you know playing dumb won't work." I said carefully. "We know you lead those assholes here. And we know you sent them here for me. You know i'm immune. What was in the bag Hope?"

Her eyes lit up before she could school her response. She knew I saw. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," She deadpanned. 

"I thought you were smarter than that," I knocked my head to the side. 

We just stared at each other as she refused to admit it. 

"She didn't do anything, you heard her!" Jerramy pointed at her. 

"That's because she's a fucking liar!" Christie renewed her struggles, but Pinoe had her pinned in her arms. 

"Get up." I grabbed one of Hope's bound arms and helped her to her feet. 

I lead her to the common area, everyone else followed right behind like a funeral procession. I grabbed a plastic chair, sticking it in the middle of the room and plunked her down. Hope wasn't resisting, but I'm sure she had something up her sleeve. Maybe more of her buddies were out there right now. 

"Those guys that you were talking to, they were part of that gang?"

No answer. 

"I'm really tempted to let Christie at you," I tsked. I hardly recognised the cold voice emanating from my lips. 

"What do you want me to say?" Hope redirected. 

"I want the truth, not just what you think we want to hear," I looked her in the eyes. "I have a pretty bad head wound and had to kill a man thanks to you. So I think you owe me a fucking explanation!"

I was getting angrier with every word. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and I turned to see Becky. She motioned for the corner. Once we were out of earshot, she started to talk in a hushed voice. 

"Okay, you're getting a little too emotional. Maybe we should have someone else try help?"

I went to run my hand through my hair, only to be stopped by the bandage wrapped around my head and a flair of outrage surged through me. Maybe I was too close to this. 

"I think we should let Christie at her." I said and Becky looked shocked. 

"I thought you said that would be a bad idea," Becky pointed out. 

"Yeah, that was before she made my blood boil," I said through clenched teeth.

She was playing coy and I honestly thought she would have more of a spine. 

"Let Christie go," I barked to Pinoe. 

"What?" Pinoe asked confused and even Christie looked surprised as she stopped struggling for a moment. 

I looked directly at Hope, "I honestly thought you would have a backbone, but I guess my people reading skills aren't very good. Maybe you will grow one after Christie questions you." I glanced at Pinoe. "Let her go."

Her arms opened and Christie took a hesitant step then regained her composure as she almost ran to Hope.

"Where's my daughter you mother fucker?" She spat in Hope's face. 

Hope steeled her expression and remained silent. Christie wound up her fist and let it fly again. Hope's head was whipped back from the impact and she gurgled as blood dribbled from her lips. Slowly, she brought her head back up, spitting the fresh blood on the floor. 

Christie's eyes were glassy with un-shed tears, she seemed to tremble with her fists clenched. She looked like Bruce Banner trying to contain the Hulk.

"We know it was you." Another hit; this time to the gut. 

"My husband is dead because you brought them here!" Hope's lungs wheezed from the next punch.

"What about Kyle, Linda, Elijah, Jose, Mal!" 

I stilled.  _Mal and Jose were dead?_ I turned to Becky.

"Those two that broke in tonight, shot them when they tried to defend this place," Pain evident in her voice. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" I was almost hysterical. This was too much. 

"You have concussion. That was the last thing you needed to hear when you woke up." The nurse tone returned. 

No wonder I hadn't seen them. I felt like a fool wondering where they were, all while they were dead. Killed by those would-be kidnappers.  _The infected were supposed to be the enemy!_ This wasn't fair. Lives were being wasted for no reason while the real bad guys were terrorising us in un-dead droves. This new world was disgusting. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...Mal lasted a whole what, 3 mentions or something in the story before she died. God, she's about as useless as Tobin.


	51. All Hope Is Lost

"Stop!" Jerramy screamed as he shoved his guard to the ground, the older lady not physically able to stop him.

I seen Jerramy reach for his weapon so I reacted fast and ran up to him. He turned to me, ready to fight but wasn't expecting my elbow to connect with his face. I made sure to use the good elbow as a club. His gun skittered to the floor and I kicked it out of his reach. Jerramy looked shell shocked as he didn't even put up a fight. His eye was already puffing up where I had hit him.

"Look, you can either stay or I can have someone take you elsewhere," My voice grew colder with every word.

He tentatively touched his eye, prodding at the swelling. His elderly guard had since gotten up and come over to retrieve him. Jerramy was still stunned when the lady grabbed his arm in a tighter grip. He must have never been in a real fight before. 

Something inside of me clicked into place. Jerramy and Hope were more than likely together, even if they weren't, he was like her second in command. Maybe I could use that to my advantage. cold thoughts started to circle in my head. Perhaps the concussion had been worse than I thought. 

I picked up Jerramy's handgun and cocked it. This got everyone's attention. Hope's eyes widen when I aimed it right for her head, my arm steady like a surgeon. Becky gasped and Pinoe took a step forward.

"Don't" I warned and her eye's pleaded for me to stop. 

"I hadn't pegged you for a cold-blooded killer," Hope spat, finally saying something. 

"Glad I could finally get your attention" I said, aware that I had just taken my first step into the role of the villain. "Now, all we want are some answers. Especially Jerramy, here."

I was scaring myself at this point. I felt like a real life James Bond villain, minus the Russian accent. I held back the laugh rising in my chest; although it would fit the part I was playing rather well. Was it really just a role? There was no doubt that I wanted to hurt Hope and this would do the trick. 

No matter the hate I felt for her, Jerramy did nothing to deserve this. At that, I felt regret gnawing at me. I had no choice but to use him as a pawn. I would never shoot him; I just had to make Hope think I would. I jerked the gun for emphasis. Concern reflected in her eyes. I had just found my door into Hope.

"Alright," Hope said through bloody teeth. "Put the gun down and I will tell you what you want to know."

I lowered the gun to my side. "Go on then."

"I did bring them here. I traded information for guns and ammo," She admitted. 

"Are they after immune people?"

Hope looked away, "I believe so, at least that's what they wanted to know about."

"Who are they?" Christie piped in. 

"Mercenaries."

So they did horrible things for pay. 

"Does that symbol on the side of this building belong to their gang?"

"Yes."

"Are you one of them?" I raised a brow. 

"No. I just take a cut for information."

"Bullshit!" Christie yelled.

"I'm not lying!" Hope yelled back.

This was the first time she had raised her voice. Maybe she was starting to come undone. 

"Then why?" Christie's words were strained. 

Something in Hope seemed to snap. She started to let loose, turning into a completely different person. 

"How do you think I found all the military grade weapons and rations, hmm? They were payment. If I scratch their back, they scratch mine. This place is held together by will and duct tape for Christ sake! You have no idea what it's like to be in charge of a bunch of people, let alone ones who can't protect themselves! Do you think this is fucking easy on me?!"

Hope was out of breath from her harsh exclamation. She painted a picture of an unexpected leader, one who wasn't prepared to take on such a role and made all the wrong decisions. I felt no sympathy for her. Because of her, innocent people were dead. Innocent people were missing and having who knows what done to them. We already had one plague to deal with, we didn't need another one.

"Where did they take the hostages?" I asked. 

Hope swallowed. "I don't know."

Christie hit her again.

"I don't know!" Hope groaned. "All they have told me is that they need immune people for another group trying to make a cure or something."

"So right now my daughter is being experimented on?!" Christie was full of rage. 

She took large bounds towards me and I took a step back instinctively. She grabbed the gun from my hand and in my growing pile of less than proud moments, I let her. Hope stood up in her chair, her back a cement wall. 

"Listen, Christie-"

"Shut up," Christie cut her off "Don't give me some bullshit about you not knowing what was going to happen to her. You knew exactly what it was. You just didn't give a shit how many lives you ruined. My Husband is dead because of you! My daughter is being treated like a lab rat because of you!"

She was now waving the gun in Hope's face. Hope's eyes following the piece like she was magnetised. Okay, this really had gotten out of hand. Not only had I threatened someone who didn't deserve it, now Christie seemed as if she was ready to kill Hope.

"Listen to me!" Hope's voice went up a notch. "If you do anything to me, you lose your only lead."

Christie pointed the gun right at Hope and we all stood a little straighter. Becky looked at me and jerked her hand towards Christie. She wanted me to do something about it, but did I really want to?

"you're not much of a lead. You haven't given me anything to go on," Christie took a small step closer.

Hope swallowed, pupils dilating. I took a step as well and Christie said with her back to me, "Don't, this is my interrogation."

"No one's sticking up for this asshole, but Hope is right, she is our only lead," I tried to reason. 

Christie could slap her all she wanted, but a dead witness was useless.

"I can signal them again," Hope scrounged. "I still have the frequency they use."

So that's how she was contacting them. Hope must have had some sort of transistor radio. 

"What do you use?"

"I found a trucker's radio a while back and found their channel.

"Where is it?" Christie kept on grilling her. 

"In my room."

"What channel?"

When Hope didn't answer, Christie yelled "Well!?"

"Seven."

"Then that's all I needed." Christie aimed and shot. 

I lurched forward and people screamed all around me. At that close of range, Christie didn't miss. The bullet hit Hope in the left temple and her head whipped back. Her body sat still, her head out of view but I could see the smoke rising in white tendrils. Hope looked like she was hanging her head over the back of the chair releasing a puff of smoke. 

That brief illusion was shattered when blood started to drop onto the worn floor. It was like pouring out red paint from a can. Jerramy let out a distressed cry and sank to the ground in tears. Some of the older ladies fled the room and the rest of us stood, frozen in shock.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh. Another death...  
> Do you guys think Christie done the right thing? What would you have done in her position?


	52. Lynch Mob

I remember one time back in elementary school when a classmate named Eric had managed to coax a skunk into the school grounds. He stood at the break in the metal fence for most of our lunch break waving his bologna sandwich enticingly at the black furred creature. Eventually it creeped up to the fence only to spray Eric and make off with the sandwich he dropped from being so startled. 

Eric sputtered as the kids closest to him ran as far downwind as they could get. When he tried to approach the crowd with hesitant steps, they all backed up from him in a disgusted wave. At this point he burst into tears and eventually a teacher hosed him off outside before calling his parents. For days he stunk no matter how much his parents must have bathed him and no one would go near him. It was like he was involuntarily quarantined. 

I kind of felt like Christie was suffering from the same fallout poor Eric had, except this time people had more of a reason to keep their distance. After shooting Hope, Christie was treated like a leper by the rest of the survivors. Eyes widened as she passed and people were quick to move out of her way, then shot her a dirty look when her back was turned. She wasn't going to last here much longer. Either she was going to pack up and leave or be thrown out by an enraged group comprising mainly of elderly ladies. 

What no one knew except for the handful of us was that Hope was a two-faced traitor, responsible for leading those mercenaries here and causing the deaths of too many to count. But a public execution wasn't the answer to her crimes and it left us with only a few more questions answered than before. The ones who witnessed it firsthand were too shocked and traumatised to fully understand and had gossiped to the rest of the populace by the next morning. 

Now words like cold-blooded murderer and crazy were being tossed around about Christie and I could see that she was going to be forced to walk the plank soon. I tried to convince myself that this wasn't my problem, that this had nothing to do with me or me staying here, but I kept getting sucked in like a bird into a jumbo-jet engine. I wanted to leave with Tobin and continue on our way like I had planned to days ago. I wanted for this whole thing to not bother me. I wanted to not care. 

But something inside me made me stay and help fix the disorder and broken pieces.

Becky, Pinoe and I spent hours cleaning up the...mess. Hope was currently wrapped up in a sheet outside, waiting to be buried. Her body was the hardest thing to deal with. We had to untie her wrists and manoeuvre her onto the sheet all while her head continued to leak blood and brain matter. At one point Pinoe had to excuse herself and we could hear her throwing up in the hallway. One we got Hope's body outside, we started in on the bloody mess that was on the floor. Lucky for them, the building had cheaped-out with linoleum and there wasn't a carpet. 

I stood up and stretched out my back. Looking down at our poor excuse for a murder clean-up job, I could see that the linoleum would be forever stained a russet colour. I ripped off my rubber gloves and threw them into the garbage bag Becky had labelled, "Hazardous waste" with a sharpie. 

"We're not done yet," Becky sighed as she slapped down the rag in her hand. It landed with a wet splat sound on the floor. 

"I am." I cracked my neck for emphasis. 

My head was throbbing from the concussion and I was pretty sure Becky knew that I shouldn't be physically exerting myself this much. My eyes were starting to sag like a used mattress and fatigue was setting in. 

"We need sleep Becky" Pinoe groaned as she hefted herself up from her crouched position. 

We had decided it was better to clean up during the night so no one seen the mess and I was starting to feel the strain and delirium from lack of sleep. Morning had come and people were moving about. The worst of it was cleaned up and you could hardly tell there had been someone shot in the rec room.

Becky rubbed at her forehead, "Fine, but do you have any idea how much disease can be spread from human remains? That's why we have to be so meticulous."

I let out a laugh that sounded more like a bark, "I think we're already covered there. Have you not seen the world lately?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, but didn't say anything. 

"Listen, we're going to go get a few hours of rest, that includes you too Becky," Pinoe pointed at her. "And then when our heads are clearer, we can deal with this."

"You're forgetting about the concussed here," Becky hefted her yellowed covered thumb at me.

Oh so now she was concerned for my health, how convenient.

"I think pulling an all-nighter means I'm in the clear, but just in case I'll have Tobin shake me awake every few hours." I was willing to bet that Tobin would be diligent with her task. 

 

We dragged the make-shift hazardous waste bags outside then drudged upstairs for much needed sleep. I could barely get out the instructions to Tobin before I collapsed on the bed in our new apartment. The old one was still airing out from the earlier incidents. The last thing I seen was Tobin setting the timer she borrowed from Pinoe's kitchen. As instructed, Tobin woke me up every three hours on the hour. It wasn't the best sleep I ever had, but it beat no sleep.

Then I was woken up a third time prematurely. 

"Ash, something is going on downstairs. I think it's about Christie." Tobin announced, her voice breaking through the fog my brain was in. 

It was afternoon now judging from the light soaking the room. Everyone had the day to make things worse and knowing this place, that's exactly what happened. I swung my feet over the bed and rubbed my temples. My head still hurt; I would have to see Becky for some pills. 

Tobin grabbed one of my arms and started to yank it, "Come on. Rylie is crying, she thinks something is going to happen to her mum."

I guess the lynch mob had formed while I was sleeping. 

"Where's Rylie?" I asked, shaking my head to clear it further. 

"In her room"

"Go stay with her, okay?" She nodded at my request. 

I hefted my stiff body out of the surprisingly comfy bed and dreaded every step that brought me closer to downstairs. I needed to leave this place and this shit behind me. I could already hear the swarms of the people below from the second set of stairs.

"She can't stay here anymore. She's a cold-blooded murderer!"

"She killed Hope!"

"Enough!" The last one was Becky. "Now I agree her actions were hasty, but there are some parts you don't know!"

I hit the landing of the main floor and followed the yelling to the rec room. It smelt of bleach and sweat. It was hot from all the worked-up people congregating in there. Heads whipped towards me as I approached the crowd. 

"She's to blame too!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, surprise halting my feet. They blamed me for this too?

"She needs to leave too!"

I clenched my teeth. These stupid people had no idea what they were talking about and like hell I would let them get away with accusing people without knowing the whole story 

I walked towards Becky, the crowd parting for me. I grabbed a folding chair from the corner and dragged it to the centre. Taking a lungful of air, I stepped onto the chair towering over everyone's heads. 

"You have no idea what the fuck you're talking about!" I yelled. At the gasps, I realised I should have used a different opener. "Hope was a traitor, selling us off to the highest bidder. Perhaps you forgot that the first attack you suffered was long before I came here." Murmurs erupted. "Hope believed I was immune and led those mercenaries here to grab me."

One of the ladies stepped forward. "Why would she think you're immune?"

I hesitated. Did I want all these people to know? I looked at Becky and she nodded her head at me, silently probing me on. 

"This is why," and I lifted my shirt a bit to show off my scratches. 

"That's from a sick one?" Her grey eyebrows raised in disbelief. 

I lowered the corner of my shirt back to normal, "Yes, it happened months ago."

"What would they want with you or anyone they took?" They weren't connecting the dots. 

"Apparently these mercenaries are supplying another group of people looking to find a cure or something. While we're not a hundred percent sure on what happened to them, I'm sure saying they are being used as lab rats is not too far-fetched."

I wasn't sure I was making the right call in telling them all this, but Becky wasn't stopping me and Pinoe who had just joined in the middle of my speech wasn't stepping in either. Maybe this was exactly what these people needed to hear to knock some sense into them. 

Everyone burst out yelling, trying to get their two cents in. I sighed, the room was now like a gym full of elementary kids arguing over what game to play. 

"Rabble, rabble, rabble!" I screamed over the restless crowd. 

Confused, but now quiet faces peered at me like i'd lost my mind. 

"This is getting us nowhere. What exactly are you going on about?" I demanded. 

The braver lady stepped forward again, "We want Christie out of here. Regardless of the backstory, she's a murderer."

Before I could reply, Beckie stepped in, "What about Christie's daughter, Rylie? Do you condemn her for her actions too?"

The lady stopped to think for a second, "Of course not. She can stay."

"In what world would that work? Do you think Christie would just give up on her daughter or that she would be okay with staying here while she left?" Becky was practically yelling now too.

I would have stepped in except Christie beat me to it. 

"You don't have to worry about running me out of this place. I'll be leaving and taking Rylie with me." She had sneaked to the back of the crowd, which was now gasping and backing away from her, further into the room. 

You'd think we were on the set of a soap opera from all the gasping that was going on. 

"Christie-" Becky was cut off when Christie held up her hand. 

"I've packed and will leave first thing tomorrow." and with that, she walked back upstairs leaving behind a room full of statues. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit of a filler, will be the only update today. Wasn't going to upload any today because I have football but I managed to squeeze in a quick chapter especially for 'BatOutOfHellMadness' Gotta keep the number one fan happy. Yup, that's like a shout-out right there haha
> 
> Sorry I don't have time to add anything a bit more exciting today, I don't like only doing one update if it's a boring chapter.


	53. Lego House

I gingerly got down from my fancy podium, not trusting my balance with a concussion. I snaked around the crowd, now tinged with shame. She was already back in her apartment by the time I reached the second floor. 

I found her sitting, shoulders slumped on the leather couch in the living room. Beside her sat a trucker's radio, which I could only assume was the one that had belonged to Hope which was used for contacting the mercenaries. It was Christie's only lead to finding her daughter and she sure as hell wasn't leaving that behind. 

The bedroom door was closed and I could hear Tobin talking to Rylie through it. Christie's packed bags were waiting by the door, ready to go in the morning.

"Christie listen-"

"Ash don't. I need to leave. For me."

"I'm not going to say what you think I am." I approached her and leaned against the wall in front of her.

She looked up at me, dark circles under her eyes. 

"Why don't we leave together?" I still wasn't sure of my words once they left my lips. 

Christie's mouth fell open. 

"You're right, I wasn't thinking that at all," She ran her hand over her forehead. "Aren't you worried i'm dangerous?"

"You know, I was pretty scary myself last night too." I admitted. 

It was true, last night I let my anger take over and something ugly had emerged. Who knows, if Christie hadn't killed Hope, maybe I would have.

"This place needs a leader and I was never much of one. I think you'd fill the role better," Christie sighed and leaned herself against the back of the couch.

I made a scoffing sound, "It would be a sad day, the day anyone put me in charge. I've wanted to go since I got here and now I have my opening."

Maybe she would be more open to the idea if I put a selfish spin on it. I wasn't scared of Christie; after all, I had killed before. Albeit, it was never someone tied up and at my mercy, but if she hadn't killed Hope, what would we have done with her? It wasn't an ideal situation, but I didn't see an alternative. 

"And where would we go?" She asked, testing the idea.

"Where did you plan to go?" I countered. 

At the defeated look on her face, I knew she had less of a clue than I did. 

"Fair enough. You need help getting to the gun store you were talking about?"

"Indeed I could," I nodded. "It's going to be a long trip back and I could use the help."

"Have you told Becky and Pinoe? I'm sure they won't let you go without a fight."

"It's not their choice." I shrugged.

"Well, you better start packing then. I want to leave at first light tomorrow."

"Pretty demanding words for a woman who has no idea where she's going," I raised an eyebrow. 

Christie let out a harsh breath, "I just don't want Rylie to see all the people's reactions to me or hear anything they may say. maybe most will be asleep that early."

"You forget this place is like a retirement village, full of elderly people who get up at five in the morning."

"Good point," Christie chuckled. "I just want to put this all behind me as fast as I can. Lingering will only make it worse."

I knew a thing or two about that.

 

I let Tobin stay with Rylie for the time being while I packed up our few belongings. Most of our stuff was still in the car, primed for a quick getaway. Even though I had my power-nap of a sleep, I was still exhausted. And concussed. I'd have to talk to Becky about that. 

"You're leaving?" Speak of the devil. 

I looked up to a worn out, blacked eyed Becky. She walked over and plunked down on the couch beside me. 

"Yeah, you know Tobin and I being here was only temporary."

"Shitty timing."

"Well tough shit," I all but growled. "This place isn't my problem. This was supposed to be a stop along the way, not a new life."

Becky leaned over and put her face in her hands. 

"You know, when we formed this place it used to feel like we had a real chance. We had trained leadership, weapons, food, people, shelter, now it feels like everything we had worked for has gone to shit. Makes me think that we were fooling ourselves for ever thinking we had a chance."

I patted her shoulder awkwardly. I wasn't good at the whole comforting thing. 

"Look, I felt like that before. When I got split up from my group and suddenly had Tobin to look after. It was daunting; it still is. I have no idea what i'm doing, but the thing is i'm still doing. That's key. Focus on rebuilding this place or find a new one. Hell, you can come with us if you'd like," Maybe I should have consulted Christie before I made that offer. 

She peered at me, her head still in her hands, "You're leaving with Christie?"

"Yes."

"Even after yesterday?"

"Especially after yesterday. Actually I was going to come and see you about the whole concussion issue. Other than being tired from sleep deprivation, do you think I'll be okay to drive?" That was my main concern. I needed to be at one hundred percent on the road. 

"You hit your head hard, but not enough that you will have that kind of damage. You made it through the night without consciousness problems and that's when they'd start to show up if you were going to get them," then she added, "But I'd still recommend you rest another day."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen." I'd been down that stalling road too much. 

"Pinoe's going to be pissed you're leaving." Becky said, like maybe that fact would make me change my mind.

"I was going to talk to her next."

So I did that and she wasn't happy about it either. 

"You're going to leave me like a week old dinner?" Pinoe joked, but it felt forced. I had gone down to the kitchen to see Pinoe and found her and the kitchen in disarray. Ingredients and canisters littered the counter space, she was puttering all over the place, and the timer was going off continuously. I calmly walked over and mashed a few buttons, the shrill alarm ceasing. 

"No food lasts a week here." I retorted.

She sat on the bar stool and put down the utensil that she had been waving about. I wasn't even sure what it was used for. It looked more like a medieval torture device. 

"You came here at a crappy time. It wasn't always like this, you know." Pinoe sighed. "You got room for one more?"

I took a step back, surprised at her words. She chuckled. 

"I'm kidding of course. Looks like I'm going down with the ship." Pinoe glared at the mystery utensil. 

"This place doesn't have to go to waste. Hope's gone. She was the only link to that mercenary group, so they may never show up again." I tried to offer some positives. "Now you can rebuild."

"Rebuild, like a house of Lego," She muttered. "I guess we don't have a choice do we?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I never updated yesterday. I forgot that the Olympic football started yesterday so I was too busy watching all the games. Whenever the women's games are on, don't expect an update


	54. The Drifter

The next morning came at an alarming rate. Maybe it was the concussion, but I didn't really believe that. Other than a minor headache, made bearable by a couple of Tylenol's, I felt I was ready to go. Tobin and I waited by the entrance with our bags. Christie had taken Rylie to her husband's grave to say their goodbyes before we headed off. 

"Here, you'll need this." Pinoe said as she massed me a duffel bag. 

I took it and peeked inside. Two AR-15 rifles were nestled among some boxes of ammo. 

I tried to hand the bag back, "I can't accept these. You need them."

Pinoe folded her arms, "Nope, there's no way we're letting you go out there with one handgun."

"If all goes according to plan, we'll have some weapons by the end of the day," I said, lowering the bag. It was heavy. 

"Well, if all doesn't go according to plan, at least you'll have these."

"Thank you." I nodded. 

"You're welcome, miss." Pinoe grinned. 

"You sure you don't need anymore first-aid stuff?" Becky asked.

She had given us one final look over to make sure we were healthy. At least our bodies were. My head wound was healing and I had no dizziness, so Becky deemed me fit to go. Even my creaky elbow had decided to go into remission. A good sign? I'd like to think so.

"Nope, we have enough." I didn't want to deplete their stash any more than we already had. 

They even generously provided us with some canned goods and Pinoe packed us a lunch for on the road. I found myself shuffling on my feet. Their kindness was making it even harder to say goodbye. At least we were getting the chance to say it, instead of being torn apart without so much as a wave. It was on our terms; well sort of. Christie was being run-out by the masses and I just wanted to continue on. 

 

I heard the roar of an engine starting. We looked out the front door to see Christie waving us out from the rusted truck she was planning to use. She said old trucks were built better and easier to fix, so she tuned up one they had found while scavenging the small town a while back. It looked like it was on its last legs to me, but then again, so did my old Honda Civic which had carted me around for six years. 

We got hugs from everyone and more than a couple of teary faces despite the way things were going down. Not everyone had turned up, just the ones we had become friends with; of which there were not many left. 

"Don't you dare be strangers. If you find yourself nearby, you better come see us," Pinoe scolded. 

I looked at the expectant faces, "I'll do you one better than that. Once we find Hargrove, we'll come get you."

"I'll hold you to that." Pinoe crushed me in a giant bear hug. "Now you better get going, you'll need all the day light you can get."

We walked out into the sunny morning, the rays hitting my exposed skin. I was starting to really enjoy that sensation. 

"I'm gonna miss them," Tonin muttered as we made out way to our parked car. 

"Me too, but we'll see them again." I said. 

I wasn't going to miss what happened here, but the people we were leaving behind. That was always the hardest part. 

I pulled the car beside the rust bucket Christie was in so that our drivers' windows were facing one another and rolled down the window. 

"You ready to go?" I asked, more as a formality. 

Christie nodded, "We'll be behind you the whole way."

I rolled up the window and started back towards the interstate. The added protection of the automatic rifles they had given us made me feel incrementally better. At least we could use them if we got really swamped in infected, which was probable the closer we got to New Orleans. 

We were waved on by the new guards stationed at the town exit ramp. We no longer had to worry about on-coming traffic, so we could drive the wrong way. I waved back as we hit the long stretch of highway. I had the map out on the dash with my roughly estimated route. I was going off of memory of the map Heather had marked.

We didn't want the main bridge that crossed the Mississippi River, but the one on the outskirts that lead to the area where we found that first grocery store. To do this, we would have to get off the interstate and take some back roads. I just hoped that I would recognise something to help instil confidence. It felt kind of like a crapshoot. 

An hour later, the honk of Christie's truck had me hitting the brakes. We had decided before we left, that a honk would signal stopping. I peered in the rear-view mirror to see that Christie had stalled, smoke seeping out from under the hood of her truck. 

"What's she doing?" Tobin asked as she squinted to see in her side mirror. 

I gave the area a panoramic view as best I could from inside the car. There were no immediate threats that I could see. The highway was still a testament to the lack of life. 

"I'm going to guess her old truck is hooped," I sighed. Nothing ever went smoothly. Was it too much to ask for a safe passage?

I grabbed my handgun before I left Tobin in the car with the instructions to stay put and that I would signal for her to come out when I was sure it was clear. I hurried over to the truck, waving the smoke and steam from my impeded view. 

"What's wrong?" I asked Christie. She was already out front with the hood propped up.

"Not sure, but I think there's a leak in the radiator. The temperature's too high and the engine is struggling. I just need like ten minutes to tinker with it." Christie hunched over the front, a wrench in hand. 

Rylie waved at me from the front seat. 

"I'm going to give the immediate area a once over, make sure nothings right by us," I informed Christie. 

She looked up from the guts of the truck, "Stay close and don't try to be a hero. Yell if you get into trouble."

"I have no intention of playing hero, that only gets you dead." I left her with those words as I started with the area behind the truck.

We had just come from that road and it had been clear, but that all could change in an instant. I made sure I was still in sight of the vehicle as I made my way down the ditches and when nothing even so much as moved, I headed back. 

"Is everything okay?" Rylie stuck her head out the passenger window.

"Everything looks good so far. And it seems like your mum knows what she's doing."

Christie had now crawled under the truck, her feet sticking out like she had been run over.

"Yeah, mum knows how to fix cars. You should see all the tools she used to have!" Rylie said in a rush.

"Good th-" I was cut off by the sound of the car's horn. 

Tobin.

I took off like a marathoner towards the car. She knew what noise would draw in and wouldn't have dared to do that unless there was danger. As I approached the car I could see the outline of a body against the passenger side of the car. Once I got closer, I could tell it wasn't the groping hand of an infected but the intent hands of a live person jingling the door handle. Tobin must have hit the lock button before the woman got in. Thank god. 

"Step away from the car or I'll blow your head off," I said tersely, only a couple of paces from the person. 

She slowly turned around, her hands in the air. She looked at the gun I had aimed right for her and took a step back.

Christie had gone around to the driver's side where Tobin was currently huddled. She was about to get out when Christie commanded her to stay inside with the doors locked.

"I wasn't gonna try anything, I just need a ride." the shaggy woman said. 

She lowered her hands, her well-worn shirt sagging past the shoulder revealing a bloody bandage job. Quickly, she pulled the neck of the shirt up, but it was too late, I had seen it. She cast me a pleading look. 

"Please."

"You get that from an infected?" I pointed the gun to her shoulder. 

"This? No, no" She waved it off. "This is just from some scrap metal. Been trying to salvage items."

"For what?"

"Umm." Her breathing became shallow. "You know, for radios and armor." She took a step towards me and I took one back. "Please miss. I aint no problem. Just need a ride. Been looking for that Hargrove place since I heard about it weeks ago."

Without warning, she charged me. I let off a shot before she tackled me to the ground. The impact made me lose my grip on the gun and it fell away from all the wrestling. I kicked and thrashed at the woman as she started to yell desperately. 

"I didn't want to do it this way! You made me! We could have gone together!"

She was certifiably insane, and possibly infected. 

With a loud cracking sound, the woman stopped her screaming. Her jaw slackened and she toppled over. Christie stood over her, bloody wrench in hand. I scrambled up, scanning the interstate floor for my handgun. Once I found it, I joined Christie who was standing watch over the crumpled heap that was the insane woman. 

"She's not dead. I just knocked her out." Christie looked at me. 

I tested out my limbs. She hadn't done any damage with her tackle. 

"Did you figure out what was wrong with the truck?" I asked, a little off topic. 

"Ah, yeah I think so. The engine coolant reservoir bottom completely cracked. I can't repair it with the few things I have." Christie looked like a doctor delivering bad news. 

I sighed, "I'll guess its going to be a cramped drive. I'll back up the car and we'll toss in everything we can."

"What about her?" Christie motioned to the unconscious woman on the ground. 

Blood had started to well from the wound Christie gave her and was leaking onto the asphalt. 

"We leave her."

I had Tobin unlock the door so I could get back in as Christie ran back to the truck.

"I'm sorry I honked the horn! I know it was loud, but I didn't know what to do," Tobin looked at me with guilt. 

"Are you kidding? How else would we have known there was a crazy drifter?" She needed to understand that she did nothing wrong. 

"A what?" Tobin looked confused at my term for the woman. 

"Never mind. It's all good, besides, that shot I made was just as loud so we have to get going ASAP."

I put my arm on the passenger seat and crammed my head back so I could see as I drove backwards. I made sure to manoeuvre away from the woman, careful not to run her over. That was the last thing I wanted to hear; the cracking of bones.

Christie was already piling their meagre supplies on the ground when I reached the broken down truck. I popped the trunk and she started throwing items in before I got out of the car. We had to squish the trunk hood back down using our combined body weight. Christie made sure the trucker's radio was safely stowed on the dash. 

Tobin and Rylie would have to take the back seat since they were the smallest and I needed Christie for help with the maps. We still had supplies in the back seats as well. In the end, they had about one and a half seats to share while the rest of the back was piled to the roof with bags and supplies. 

No one had better open a door behind the driver's, if they did, it would all come pouring out. Christie had taken the passenger seat, the map already in her hand. She smelt faintly of gasoline since she had siphoned the remaining gas from her truck.

"Alright, let's try this again," I said, turning the engine back on.

We drove back around the woman, who was now sitting up, rubbing her head. 

"Hey! Wait!"

I could hear her screaming from inside the car. I looked back to see her chasing after us, but once the odometer hit fifty, she collapsed on the road. Tobin and Rylie peered out the back window on their knees as she got smaller and smaller in our dust. 


	55. Bobby Joe's

"I think we're lost," Christie said as she held up the map. 

Her head was cocked to the side like she was examining a painting at an art gallery. Navigating the interstate had been easy, it was once we took the turn off that things started to get tricky. We managed to cross the bridge we needed and were technically in New Orleans, or at least on the very cusp of the city. Unfamiliar one-ways were all we had to go on. I remember using them to get out of the city, but I don't think we had the right ones. 

I let out a harsh breath and parked the car, turning off the engine. There was no point in letting it idle, it would just burn gas. 

"Did you happen to catch that street sign back there?" I asked Christie, since I was more focused on driving than navigating. 

"Yeah, but I don't see it on here," She muttered, pulling the map in for a closer inspection.

I looked around our parking spot. The street we were currently on was more residential looking than the others. Unkempt green grass surrounded the cement road, eating away at the cracks. There were a couple of scattered infected in the immediate area that would undoubtedly make their way over to us. I was about to get out of the car to dispatch of them when Tobin yelled. 

"Look!" Tobin pushed her head into the front seats, pointing to some signage on the side of the street.

"Ho-ly shit." I gaped at the giant poster pegged into the ground. "Finally some luck thrown our way."

The camo-themed sign read, "Bobby-Joe's Gun Shop. Three miles, take a left on 78th street."

"I take it that's where we're heading?" Christie asked, setting down the map.

"Good eye." I said to Tobin and she sat down with a big grin on her face "This makes things a lot easier."

I couldn't believe our luck. I knew Heather had at least a billboard for the store, but it looks like she had put out signs as well. Thank you Heather. 

Christie looked at me, smiling as well "Guess we just follow the sign."

I turned on the engine and hurried down the road before the infected closed in on us. They chased after us for a bit until we turned left on the street the sign had said to. We continued down the road for almost three miles when the familiar gravel pit of a parking lot came into view. My heart rate started to elevate as my excitement rose. Finally something had gone right for once. 

"This is it!" Tobin squealed from the back seat.

I parked out front, no other vehicles in the vicinity. 

"Alright, I'll go in first and check it out. You stay here with these two and I'll come get you when it's clear." I announced. 

"I don't think you should go in there alone," Christie said hesitantly. 

"Then what do you suggest? We can't leave Tobin and Rylie in here by themselves, what if another crazy drifter comes along? And plus, I've actually been inside before," I explained. 

Christie looked perplexed, "Not like we have boatloads of options I guess."

I filled up my handgun magazine from what was left of our ammo stash and grabbed my trusty axe. I was reaching for the door handle when Christie grabbed my arm.

"Wait." She peered out of the car and then got out. "Pop the trunk."

Once I did, she started rummaging through the overstuffed pile. I got out to see what she was doing. 

"It's in here somewhere, just give me a second," She strained. 

I waited patiently for whatever rabbit in a hat she was going to produce. Christie pulled out a duffel bag and opened the zipper. After more rooting around, she pulled out a long yellow string. On the end of it was a whistle. 

"You're kidding me, a rape whistle?" I cocked out a hip.

Christie smirked,"Think of it as a trouble whistle. You run into anything more than you can handle, blow it loudly and I'll come running."

"You think you'll be able to hear it all the way out here?"

"I'll roll down the window a smidgen." She wiggled it for emphasis so I took it from her and stuffed it in my pocket. 

"Fine." I gave the area a panoramic view. "Looks like the area is okay. I'll be quick."

 

I headed off towards the back entrance, the grass even more overgrown than before; The worn footpath was hard to see from all the dense foliage. The back door was now attached to the door frame by a chain and lock since Ali had destroyed the dead bolt. I lifted my axe and swung. The chain rattled, but it didn't fall off like I had hoped it would. I decided to instead chop at the wooden door frame to get the one side of the chain to fall off. It took a good couple of whacks, but the chain came off the frame side and hung on the door like a limp noodle. 

I opened the door widely and waited to see if anything would pop out. That hadn't been the quietest entrance. When nothing appeared, I went in. Last time the lights had been on, now the only source of illumination was the sun coming in the front windows and backdoor. With my axe at the ready, I carefully walked down the short hallway that led to the display floor. I cursed the creaky floor boards as they groaned from my added weight. 

Well on the positive side, there was no one else in the display area. The negative side was that there was not a single gun in sight and the bullet shelving had been picked clean. I lowered my axe in defeat and leaned against the wall, taking in the emptiness of the room.

This had been all for nothing. We hadn't found our friends or weapons. And now i felt even more lost than before. I turned back around and started to head back out. I stopped at Heather's office, wondering if it was even worth my time to open it. I twisted the door handle but it was locked. It wasn't the last time we were here and I didn't think Heather would have taken the time to lock it considering she left a pretty haphazard job on the backdoor.

I wedged my axe in between the door and frame and began to heave. The splintering sound of the wood giving way spurred me on until the door popped open. I was getting good at this whole breaking and entering thing. The small space was lit up thanks to the skylight and I could see her desk in the middle. Metallic red caught my eye as I entered the room. 

On the desk was a Beretta with a red bow on top and two boxes of 9mm bullets. I picked up the gun to examine it. The piece was exactly like the ones I had lost. This couldn't have been random. I smiled as I spotted the paper underneath. Unfolding the paper, my smile grew even bigger as I laughed aloud. It was a note. 

"Ash, I hope you get this. Know that we will be coming back every couple of days to see if you are here. We have found Hargrove. We left you a map with directions on it, please follow them and get here as soon as possible. Ali."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Duuun Dun... so we know Ali is alive now, but who is 'we'? Do you think they've all survived?


	56. Hope

I wiped away the tears of happiness that were crawling down my face towards the note. Ali was alive and had just thrown us a lifeline. I careful placed the note in my back pocket of my shorts and unfolded the map. They had outlined the route to Hargrove starting from the gun shop. Even I could follow these directions.

I quickly popped out the Beretta's magazine to make sure it was loaded; this one also held fifteen bullets. With my hands full I practically ran outside, excited to share the news. Once I reached the gravel pit I seen that Christie was defending the car from a few roaming infected with her wrench. She bashed in the head of one that lunged at her, but wasn't paying attention to the other coming up right behind her. I dropped all the things in my hand and whipped out my Beretta. I lined up the shot and took it, dropping the body just before it could get its hands on Christie. 

Christie whirled around taking in the dead infected and then looked at me wide-eyed. I spotted another one coming out of the tall grass and took it out with one shot. When it fell back, the weight bent down the tall grass and I could now see the good ten or so more infected coming towards us like a pack of lions in the jungle. 

I gathered my things on the ground and ran to the car.

"We have to move, Now." I said as I ran around to the driver's door.

I threw my stuff on Christie's lap and started the car, peeling out of the parking lot. Once we were back on the street, I turned to her. 

"Looks like you were the one who needed the whistle after all."

Christie made a grunting sound as she looked at everything I had dumped on her. "What's this?"

She held up the map. I looked in the rear-view mirror at Tobin.

"Ali left us a present and a map."

"What!?" Tobin squealed as she almost launched herself up front. 

I reached into my pocket and gave her the note Ali had left. She tore it from my grasp and slunk into the back seat to read it. Her eyes lit up as she read the words. 

"She's alive!" She screamed, bouncing as much as she could in the back seat.

I pointed to the map Christie was unfurling. "That's the way to Hargrove."

She looked incredulous, "wow, talk about a lucky break."

"About time we got one." I muttered.

"We're heading the wrong way on this road." Christie pointed out. 

Of course we were. I did a U-turn at the next four-way stop and headed back, almost taking out the no U-turn sign in the process. Irony. We passed the gun shop again only to spot the infected struggling with getting out of the tall grass.

"Looks like we keep on here for a bit." Christie said as she studied the map.

"Aren't we heading into the city more?" I asked. I had only glanced at the map. 

"Mm-hm, but we gotta take this road before we start heading north-east."

"Mum, I'm hungry," Rylie spoke up from the back.

Tobin rummaged through the bags in the back seat and produced a box of granola bars, passing one to everybody. We devoured the whole box by the time we were done. Then moved onto the lunch Pinoe had packed us. It was some of her famous canned food and spiced concoction. I kind of already missed her, but the sooner we found Hargrove, the sooner we could go back and get them all. 

After a while Christie asked, "How's your head?"

"Good" The headache hadn't returned. 

"If these directions are accurate, we should be there by this evening."

"I can't wait! Can you drive faster?" Tobin asked, her excitement palpable. 

"I'm as happy as you to finally find our group, but we need to conserve our gas. You know that"

She nodded, but continued to fidget.

 

I was glad for the bone we had been thrown but that nagging voice in the back of my head began to make itself known. There was no date on the note, nor did I have any idea what day it was anyways, but something could have happened between when Ali left the stuff and now. All this hope could be for nothing. And there was nothing to indicate who made it. Was Alex there? was Heather? Was Meghan? I didn't want to go down this road until I had to, so I tried to put my suspicions out of my mind.

"So CCR work for you?" I turned to Christie and she grinned. 

"Sounds good to me."

I took out the CD from the centre console and jammed it into the player. Classic rock filled up the silence, making the trip a little bit better. I was relieved that Heather didn't only have country music CD's in the car. 

Tobin was just belting out the Chorus, "Have you ever seen the rain?" I think those were the only words she knew. 

"So, all that you found in there was the handgun?" Christie asked as she laid her head against the passenger window. 

"It was picked clean inside. I was lucky the Beretta was even still there, although it was locked up in Heather's office."

Christie tore her attention away from her window, "Tell me about your group, I only briefly met Alex."

I wasn't sure where to start, but I was fortunate that Tobin launched into an explanation of everybody from the cabin. She even mentioned Whitney. 

"Sounds like a good bunch you got there," Christie said, finally managing to get a word in.

"How about you then? You from New Orleans?" I turned the question onto Christie. 

She paused. Her mouth opened and then closed as if she was deciding what to say. 

"Not originally. I moved there with-" She swallowed, "-my husband just before we had Rylie."

She reached back and patted Rylie's knee with a sad smile. I felt like an ass for asking. 

"I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through." At that moment she looked more lost than any face I've ever seen. 

 

Silence reigned again as we all digested everything, the only sound coming from the speakers. The directions took us down another main road, this one heading back into city limits. I wasn't really nervous until we passed one of the mercenaries' spray painted symbols on the road. This made Christie sit a little straighter in her seat. 

"Can you pull over?" Christie asked. 

"Thank God, I need to pee." Tobin announced. 

I slowed down the car and brought it to the curb. This area had more infected than the outskirts of the city. We would have to take them out to buy us time. 

"How do we do this?" Christie asked as her finger counted the number of infected. "I count nine of the sick ones nearby and more in the distance."

"We can pick off the nearest threats, then have a quick bathroom break one at a time. But stay close to the car," I rattled off. 

Tobin cast me a droll look, "I cant go if you're all watching."

I sighed; this was going to be a pain. I remember when simply stopping at a gas station bathroom during a road trip was enough to make me cringe. 

"Do you have to go to the bathroom too?" Christie turned and asked Rylie. 

She shook her head, her eyes wide. Clearly she didn't want to get out of the car and I didn't blame her. I looked around to see if there were bushes or something we could use. There was a small one level house beside our spot on the curb. It gave me an idea.

"How about we break into the house and use their bathroom?" I suggested, pointing to the shack-like house. I'm sure they wouldn't mind, it wasn't like property values could go down any lower. 

"How? Not like we have time to pick a lock." Christie asked. 

"Break the window. It's not like we need the place intact, we just need to get in and out"

Christie nodded. "Okay, but first you and I will have to take out the close ones."

I had Tobin hand me the duffel Pinoe had given us. 

"Looks like you'll be using your old friend," I said as I passed Christie one of the AR-15's

The intimidating weapons seemed out of place in this small car. I let out a small giggle at how ridiculous this seemed; me handing out giant guns like I was sharing some twizzlers. Christie raised an eyebrow. 

"Don't mind her, she does that sometimes." Tobin chimed in from the back seat.

Brat.

I looked back at the two in the back. "You stay put until we say it's clear, got it?"

They both nodded. I took a deep breath and got out the car with my arsenal in tow.

 

 

 


	57. Trapped

I broke the ice with the first shot, aiming for the infected only two unkempt lawns away. It flew onto its back, not getting back up. With my feet firmly planted, I started to aim at the others. Soon, a handful of brass shell casings surrounded me and the rifle was empty. I removed the magazine and replaced it with the full spare one. 

The closest infected had been taken out, mostly by me. Christie said she didn't want to waste the bullets with her crappy aim. We creeped up to the porch and peered inside the front window. I couldn't see any movement behind the sheer curtains so using the butt of Christie's AR-15, I smashed the window. The glass shattered and fell to our feet. Christie made sure to clear the edges of jagged shards with the gun I handed back to her before we went in. 

Just before we entered, an infected in a tattered yellow cardigan stumbled from between the house and the one beside it. Christie hit the trigger too soon, bullet holes now adorning the panelling of the house we were breaking into. On the bright side, she at least hit the zombie version of Mr Rogers.

I lifted a leg over the window sill and dropped inside the stuffy house. The smell of rot hit my nose and I cringed, not the least bit enthused about what we would find. 

"Ugh" Christie groaned as she lifted the neck of her shirt over her nose. 

We panned out and searched the house. It didn't take long. The whole floor couldn't have been more than nine-hundred square feet. There were two bedrooms towards the back with a bathroom between them; all of the rooms clear of infected. We had to pass the small living room and kitchen area to get to them. On the way back to the front, I spotted a door that I assumed lead to a basement and I went over to investigate. 

The smell got stronger the closer I got to the paint-chipped door. Why was it always the basements? I could see a tuff of fur sticking out from under the door and decided that I wasn't going to open the door this time. I just rattled the handle to make sure it was locked and it was. I wedged a chair from the dining table under the handle just to be on the safe side. Last thing we needed was a rabid dog after us. 

"Something down there?" Christie asked, suddenly right behind me. She moved like she weighed nothing at all. 

"Something dead, but this should be fine for now."

We headed back outside into the wonderful smelling fresh air. More infected had gathered. I could just picture them as a bunch of nosy neighbours drawn outside by some kind of domestic drama playing out on the front lawn. 

"You take Tobin inside while I get these ones," I shouted to Christie who was already at the car. 

She gathered Tobin from the car, grabbing her hand and running back to the house. As she helped her through the broken window, I could hear her say "Eww, what's that smell?"

It was weird but I had almost missed my Beretta like it was a person; I much preferred the heavier, but well balanced weapon. The infected only a few yards from me turned just as I shot, causing my aim to go askew and rip off its upper lip in the process. The infected turned back to me, its face now in a permanent scowl. 

The fact the infected had turned just at the right moment must have been a fluke because my next shot hit home and it dropped to the ground with the rest of its face. I turned in a circle seeing that even more were coming out from their hiding places. It was like a swarm of wasps after kicking their nest. 

I shot until the slide of the gun popped back and it felt like I had hardly made a dent in the incoming crowd. Why were there so many of them? Was it because we were technically in the city now?

"Shit!"

I turned to see Christie helping Tobin out, their bathroom break over. We all met back at the car and I shoved Tobin in. I grabbed the other automatic rifle from the bag, but the crowd was still too big. 

"We need to get moving. I hope you didn't have to use the bathroom too because it's too late," Christie said as she stuffed herself back into the passenger's side. 

I ran around and got in, turning the car back on. The needle landed on less than a quarter of a tank. Why had I not noticed that? That note from Ali really threw me for a loop. 

"We need to add some gas otherwise we won't get too far," I said, smacking the dash. 

"You keep them off of me and I'll fill it," Christie said. "Pop the trunk"

I pulled the latch and saw the trunk lift in the rear-view mirror. Christie took off out the door before I had time to ready my gun. Stepping back outside, I had to bash one of the infected in the head with the butt of my rifle. They were getting too close for comfort. Leaving the driver's door open, I used it to prop the gun on and shoot. 

I turned to see Christie sticking the end of one of our Jerry cans into the tank. It looked like she was trying to be careful not to spill, but I'd say urgency outweighed being frugal at the moment. 

"Hurry!" I yelled as I took out another wave of infected, this time having to use the roof of the car. 

The magazine clicked empty and I cursed. 

"I'm out!"

Christie closed the tank lid and smashed down the trunk as she ran around again. We both got in and locked the doors. The tank was now sitting at seventy five percent full which was more than enough to get us far from here. I pressed on the gas and carried forward. The bodies drew closer and I had to slow back down to manoeuvre by them. More and more were pouring into the street and clogging our escape route. 

The car bounced up and down as we ran over a limb or two, and then stopped. I hit the gas and the wheels spun but we must have bottomed out on a stack of infected. This car had practically no clearance. I looked at Christie, unsure of how to get us going again, especially since we were in the middle of an infestation. 

"Everybody start rocking," Christie demanded. 

Even with the four of us rocking forwards and backwards, we hardly made the car move. I tried to swallow, panic making it almost impossible. 

We were so surrounded by the bodies of the infected that the inside of the car went black, like we had been engulfed in a tarp. Banging hands scraped at the windows and doors. I had no idea how much pressure a side window could take before it shattered, but I was sure I was about to find out. 

The sound of loud gunfire outside seeped into the vehicle. We all stared at each other confused. Shot by shot light started to infuse the cabin of the car, like holes being poked into a blind, as the infected  dropped outside. 

"What the hell..." Christie trailed off. 

Once enough of the bodies had hit the ground, I could finally see who our saviour was. It wasn't just one person, it was multiple. All with their own automatic guns. I started to panic. Were these from the group of mercenaries? Christie was probably thinking the same thing from the expression stuck on her face. 

"We need to refill these magazines now!" I barked

We fumbled for the ammo, shaky hands making it hard to put the bullets in properly. 

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." Christie muttered as she dropped a handful of bullets onto the car floor. 

"They're coming over here!" Tobin screamed, having picked up on the frantic atmosphere. 

I looked up to see two of the group heading towards us. The rest were picking off the wandering infected. I couldn't even open the door because there were too many bodies lying outside like they were in protest. And the vehicle was suspended in limbo. we were trapped. 


	58. Mean No Harm

As the two drew closer, my mind started to go blank. I had no idea what to do. I hit the gas again, but the car remained in place. One woman shouldered her weapon and put her hand up in a 'We mean no harm' gesture. Christie and I shared a look. 

"You think she's one of the mercenaries?"

My mouth was dry, making it hard to answer, "I don't know. It's not like they have a uniform."

The two I had dealt with back at the apartment had nothing similar about how they looked. It wasn't like they wore a team jersey or anything. The woman got close enough that she was able to drag away a couple of the bodies from the driver's door by their legs. I finally jammed a full magazine into the Beretta just in time for the woman to reach my window. 

She reached for the door handle and I pointed the gun at her. She held her hands back then motioned for me to come out.

"I got your back," Christie stated, her own AR-15 in her lap. 

I wanted to tell her that her words were less than comforting, but I decided against it. Instead of opening the door, I rolled down the window with the gun still pointed towards the woman. 

"We aint here to harm you" The woman said. 

I couldn't tell if I believed her or not. She must've been in her mid, to late twenties, with beautiful tanned skin that was showing with her tank top, which showed her slim, but muscled physique. 

"Now put down your gun please" She put down her arms. 

"I think I'll keep it here for now," I said back, the gun still pointed at her. "who are you?"

The woman took a deep breath, "We're from Hargrove. A scouting group looking for other survivors and supplies."

I tensed. If they thought they could rob us, they had another thing coming. 

"Prove it." I demanded. 

Her eyes narrowed, "Not sure how to do that without taking you back. How about you follow us?"

She could just be leading us into a trap. 

"I have a better idea, how about you follow us," I countered. 

We had the map leading us to Hargrove from Ali. If these guys were legit, then everything would be okay when we arrived. If they weren't, then we had back-up anyways. The woman's eyebrows shot up and a grin spread across her face. 

"If that's what it takes, miss" she said. "We're just around the corner." She jerked her head towards the end of the street. 

"After you then."

The grin never left her face as she nodded and headed towards her ride. The others followed her, sparing a couple of glances back at us.

"Holy shit." Christie let out a huge breath.

I rolled up my window, my fingers slightly shaking. I stuck them in my lap, resting on my Beretta until the adrenaline left my system. The others didn't need to see that. 

"They didn't do anything, that's good right?" Tobin asked. 

"All I know is that once we clear the car from being stuck, we don't get out again until we hit Hargrove," I said. "Come on, Christie. Let's get this over with."

 

We got out and cleared the pile of bodies from underneath the car. One of the legs I was pulling came off, the hip bone jutting out of the socket. I grimaced and flung the appendage away from me. I got back in and hit the gas while Christie stayed outside and pushed. After the car cleared the biggest hump, we were finally able to move again. I steered around the bodies, stopping just long enough for Christie to get in. 

We rounded the street corner, the other group in their old GMC SUV ready to follow. Once we passed them, they pulled out from the side and kept a few car lengths behind us. Rylie turned and peered out the back window at them, waving. The Woman I spoke to earlier waved back. 

"Sit down Rylie," Christie commanded. 

"How far off do you think we are?" I looked out the rear view mirror.

I was getting cold feet. Having them follow us was making me even more nervous. 

After scanning the map, Christie answered. "I'm no expert, but i'd say maybe an hour?"

It turns out Christie was pretty accurate with her time frame. After another turn, we found the main road we needed and just had to worry about dodging infected at that point. I kept hoping that the group behind us would accidentally hit one and wreck their truck so they couldn't follow us. 

They hadn't tried anything. They just kept up the pace and followed three car lengths behind the entire time. 

"I think we're here." Christie's words brought me out of my thoughts. 

I slowed down as we turned onto a long, paved driveway and approached a metal gate. An entire area was gated off with tall brick walls that had to be over twelve feet high and added barbwire on top. We passed a worn wooden sign reading, "Hargrove Retirement Community." This was a senior's village after all, but I doubt that barbwire was there before the outbreak. I could see just the peaks of houses over-top the brick fence and the tops of leafy trees. 

"Smart, those brick walls look sturdy." Christie muttered. 

The iron gate at the front was a solid slab except for a thin slot spread-out across the entire expanse. As I stopped, I could see a pair of eyes peering out. The truck stopped behind us and the woman yelled from her window, "Bruce, open the damn gate, you!"

I could hear the groaning of metal on metal. flecks of rust began to rain down from the hinges, like Autumn leaves from a tree. The large door swung inwards, leaving an opening big enough for vehicles to pass through. I hadn't realised how long I had been staring at the open gate until Christie cleared her throat. 

"We going in?"

I nodded and drove through slowly. We passed by two men holding the gate, and some others just standing around. A woman wearing a blouse and slacks was in my way, holding her hand up indicating that she wanted me to stop. Once I did, I looked around. 

The area looked about the size of a large, round cul-de-sac. All of the houses were single level condos with a one-car parking pad in front. Every building looked similar except for the obvious variation in colours to make the place look less generic. People were on the street, bustling around. It looked like a commune. the minute anyone offered us Kool-Aid, I would be out of here. 

"It looks like a real village," Christie muttered. 

I heard the creaking of a gate being closed behind us. The inside of the brick walls had guard lookouts made out of ladders and wooden beams on both sides of the gate. I was willing to bet that they had a few others around the community. At least they had a decent perimeter. As far as I could tell, only the guards that had opened the gate were carrying weapons. 

"Well, shall we?" I said as I turned off the engine and got out, the others following.

The woman acting as a traffic cop flashed me a warm smile, "Welcome to Hargrove! Carli will be here soon to give you an official welcome. I just need-"

She was cut off by Tobin's high pitched squeal. 

"Ali!" Tobin screamed a few decibels more than necessary. 

She was right. 

Only a few yards from us with a couple of other people, Ali was coming out of one of the first houses. She stalled her purposeful stride, a look of utter bewilderment plastered across her face, but then she threw down the arm-full she was carrying as she snapped out of it. They ran to each other, Ali scooping up Tobin's frame. Tobin's legs flailed behind her as she hugged her with all her might still squealing. 

I stood frozen beside Christie and for the briefest of moments, I felt like an outsider. 

"Oh my god! Ash!" a familiar voice yelled. 

I whipped my head to the side to see Alex running at me in a full sprint. I barely had time to put down the backpack I hauled out the car before she collided with me. We started jumping up and down as we hugged excitedly, like a couple of teen girls meeting at school after summer break. 

I couldn't stop smiling. Relief was a bucket of ice dumped on me, soaking down to my bones. I had found her, and got Tobin back to her best friend. All the trials of the past two weeks had been leading to this and to see it come to fruition was almost indescribable. Even against the odds, I had got us here. 

"Alex you're alive!" I yelled back 

We separated, her still grinning like an idiot. I'm sure my own smile matched. "Not just me, everyone else made it too!"

That meant Heather and Meghan were around here somewhere. I couldn't wait to see them; even Meghan. I finally noticed all the strange faces gathered around us. Some were smiling at the reunion scene, while others looked apprehensive. 

The woman from earlier came up beside me, that grin still in place. "Told you I meant no harm."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...we finally have our reunion, even if Ali & Ash haven't exactly met yet, we know they're all alive. 
> 
> Ps. Couldn't be mean enough to make you's wait til Monday for this chapter.


	59. Hargrove

As I stepped back from Alex, she lightly grabbed my forearm and looked me straight in the eye. "Thank you. I'll never be able to repay you for keeping Tobin safe" 

With that, she whipped her head around to find her best friend. 

Once they had finished twirling, Ali and Tobin  jogged over to us hand in hand. Ali let go of Tobin's hand and practically tackled me. I hugged her back with a laugh, "Careful with the ribs, eh?"

The faint scent of soap clung to her making me self conscious. I hoped I didn't smell of being trapped in that small car with three other people all day. With her lips at my ear, she whispered to me. 

"I missed you,"

She placed my face in her hands and kissed me square on the mouth. I wasn't expecting her to do that as we hadn't even talked about our previous make-out session a month before. I heard some cheers and whistling from the nearby people. 

"Ewww," Tobin scrunched up her face, but I could tell she was trying to suppress a smile.

"Uh," was all I could come up with when she pulled her face away. 

"Marking your territory?" The woman said to Ali.

"Gotta make sure people keep her hands off of her, Christen."

So, the woman had a name. 

"And who's this?" Alex cocked her head towards Christie and her daughter. 

Damn Ali, she threw me off with her welcoming. I unlatched myself from her and walked to Christie, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"This is Christie and her daughter Rylie. They're friends from our previous survivor hideout."

"Hi" Christie nodded and Rylie just stood slightly behind her giving everyone a shy wave.

"Previous survivor hideout?" Ali questioned. 

"Long story."

"We all have one of those," a new voice boomed through the small crowd that had formed. 

People parted for the owner of the voice. It was a woman wearing a green polo shirt and shorts. She looked like she belonged in a country club. From the authority in her voice I could only assume this was Carli the other lady was talking about. I was starting to think I had a problem with authority because I was instantly wary of her. But to be fair, my track record with people in charge had not been bring home to the parents worthy since all this began. 

"You got that right," Christie stepped forward. 

The woman walked right to us and offered her hand, "Welcome to Hargrove my fellow wanderers. I assume Tracy got your names?"

Tracy, the lady who had stopped us when we entered, looked flustered, "I- I didn't get a chance to yet, Carli."

"That's alright, we can get them now." She placed her hand on Tracy's shoulder. 

We breezed through another round of introductions as Tracey scribbled down our names in her notebook. I guess it was wise to keep track of all the people coming in and out, but I didn't like the idea of being catalogued. Carli must have noticed my scrutinising gaze because she spoke up. 

"We make sure we have everyone's names upon entering to keep organised. This way we have a means of accounting for everyone, should anything happen."

"Smart." Christie spoke for both of us. 

"They can stay with us, Carli. No need to assign them a new house," Ali said. 

"I had a feeling," Carli smiled. "But I don't think there'll be enough beds. These condos are only two bedrooms each. Last thing I want is for someone to have to stay on the floor. Why don't you guys take number twenty-two, it's ready to go."

Ali made a face. 

"I'm staying with my best friend," Tobin took a stance and then grabbed my hand. "And Ash."

Carli laughed. "I wouldn't dream of splitting you guys up. You can discuss living arrangements amongst yourselves. Just let Tracy know what you decide. Now, why don't you go get settled in and we will see you at supper, hopefully getting to hear that long story of your."

At that, the crowd dispersed, back to whatever they were doing before we arrived. 

I could faintly hear Tobin talking to Alex 

"I'm so glad to see you" Tobin said while giving her another hug.

"you know I don't swing that way. right?" Alex smirked, resulting in getting a smack from Tobin. 

"Come on, I'll show you to the house she's talking about," Ali waved us on. 

"What about the car? I'm not leaving it here to get scavenged." I pointed out. 

"Follow behind me."

By myself, I got back in the Mazda and at a painfully slow pace, followed them to our new condo. Tobin was latched onto Alex's hand, her mouth going a mile at a minute. No doubt she will have heard our entire tale by the time we reached the house. Ali pointed to our new abode and I drove up the single car driveway. Gold house numbers proved that this was indeed house twenty-two. The cul-de-sac must have at least forty small condos, not including the large clubhouse I saw just inside the entrance. 

I got out and looked over the one-story home. It was painted a light blue with white trimmings to match the white picket fence. It looked so...suburban that it was creepy. It definitely looked out of place in an apocalypse. The people in the house to our right ran out to their porch, waving. I gave a stiff wave back. Yep, definitely creepy. 

"This is already better than our apartment," Christie whistled. 

"And they didn't confiscate my gun like you did," I raised an eyebrow. 

Christie laughed, "Hey, I was doing what I had to. You think they'll want to know what weapons we have?"

"I'd bet on it, the way they're cataloguing people at the door," I turned to look Christie in the eye. "Just don't tell them about all we have. Lets keep something to ourselves."

Christie nodded just as Ali approached us with a big smile on her face. 

"I cant believe you're here! We just went back yesterday to Heather's store to see if you had gotten our present and directions."

"Where is Heather?" I asked. 

"She's still out training some of the volunteers," Alex answered. 

"Training volunteers for what?"

"How to shoot. You'd be surprised how few people can actually hand a gun," Ali smirked. "Kind of like you before."

"She's gotten way better," Tobin stuck up for me. 

"I can vouch for that." Christie added. 

"Awe, you guys," I faked like I was tearing up.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Alex asked, a hand on her hip. "all four of us have been staying in number seventeen." She pointed across the street and down.

I didn't want to abandon Christie and Rylie, I wouldn't feel right about that. 

"I'll stay here with Christie and Rylie," I offered. 

"But what about me?" Tobin asked, her eyes darting between Alex and I

Alex looked at her with a laugh, "you'll be with me of course."

"But-" Tobin looked over at me. 

"I'll be fine, I'm just down the road," I waved off her concern.

It was kind of nice that she was worried about separating from me. Alex gave me a look like she was realising this now and looked away guiltily. Tobin removed her hand from Alex's and walked over to me, crushing me in a hug. No words were spoken, but I could tell it was a thank you, for all I'd done for her.

"Better unload our stuff."

We got to work grabbing what we could and walked into the house. The front door was unlocked. According to Ali, Carli had all the keys and claimed that since we couldn't cut new ones, that she would be holding onto the only copies. This seemed like a red flag to me, but then again, I could just be looking for reasons to not trust this place. 

The smell of old lady perfume hit me first. The small living room had two over stuffed couches and plenty of cat figurines, and cat blankets and cat pillows; even cat curtains. 

"Totally your style," Ali grinned at me. 

I chose to ignore her as I walked further into the apartment. A small kitchen with an island was off to the right of our living area and in the back part were a bathroom and two minuscule bedrooms. The whole floor had to be no more than eight hundred square feet; I'd been in apartments bigger than this. 

I dropped my backpack in the master bedroom, if you could even call it that. The only thing different about it was that the room had just enough footage to hold a bed and a dresser, whereas the other one only had enough room for the bed. 

"These condos make the cabin look pretty big, hu?" Ali said from the hallway. 

"How do you sleep four in this place?" I asked. There were only two beds. 

"We share beds, or take turns on the couch. Heather shares with Alex, I share with Meghan. it's real cramped, but we make it work." Ali answered 

I walked back into the living room, trying to process everything. 

"So where am I gonna sleep?" Tobin asked. 

"I'm sure I can convince Heather to permanently take the couch. Might have to bribe her though," Alex ran her hand through her hair and I grinned. It was surreal being back with my old group. 

"Well you better, cause i'm not sleeping on the couch," Tobin cocked out a hip and we all laughed. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might find the next few chapters boring, will involve a lot of talking as I try and get the characters back up to grips with each-other, telling each other what happened after they split up, all the boring stuff. I will try to keep it as interesting as I can, of course. 
> 
> Ps. I forgot how annoying it is having Ali & Alex in the same chapters. I keep mixing their names up!


	60. Reminiscing

Once we were as settle in as you could get in this situation, Alex practically dragged me out of the condo to see if we could find Heather or Meghan. The good thing about the neighbourhood is that they had their own integrated septic and water systems for the whole cul-de-sac, so the toilets and sinks worked. Their system ran off of the nearby lake and streams and drained onto swamp land a few miles away. The majority of it was powered by the various solar-lights strategically placed on various front lawns. 

Christie was excited to see how it worked exactly, since she was the one who had rigged the downstairs bathroom to work in the apartment. I had asked what exactly she did before the infection took over and Christie just said, "A bit of everything." I had assumed she was an engineer or something. 

Tobin had introduced Ali to Rylie and was currently telling her all about our life at the cabin. 

"There are a few kids here too. Some of the older ladies organised classes for them," Ali mentioned and Rylie's face screwed up

"I am not going to school."

"That's what you think," Christie said from nowhere. 

She crossed her arms, "That's dumb. School is the last thing we need." She looked up at me expectantly. "Ash?"

I floundered for a second and fought the urge to say 'Listen to your mum', "You want to stay smart? Then you should definitely take those classes, otherwise i'm going to have to dye your hair bleach blonde."

"You're blonde." Rylie retorted. 

"Yes, but I'm the exception to the rule," I said like I was the Queen of England. 

Laughs echoed around me. 

"Hey! I'm smart; I just don't make smart choices. There's a difference you know."

"Well I can testify to you not making smart choices," Ali added. The pot calling the kettle black right there. 

They were still laughing when we reached their condo. Alex opened the door and did a quick patrol of the space. Tobin put down her pack and scrutinised her new house. 

"I think I like the cat one better."

No one else was in there so Ali and Alex offered to give us a tour of the premises. I had made sure that I put my fully loaded Beretta in my waistband, just in case. I didn't know how secure this place was. 

"You won't need to carry that around in here," Alex said when she spotted my gun. 

I shrugged, "Kind of a habit now. How exactly do they handle the weapon situation here?"

"If you need a weapon, they assign you one. They keep track of them at the club house and monitor who has what," Ali answered. "You have to hand over your weapons, but you can take them out when needed if you pass their training course. Basically they just want to make sure you can handle a weapon without casualties. Most people feel better with less guns floating around."

"And I assume that's where Heather is?"

"Yup, they have her and a Sergeant running the course."

I guess I would be subjected to this training course soon, but I sure as hell wasn't forfeiting my Beretta. 

We passed by one of the make-shift guard towers. A Filipino woman nodded at us briefly from her perch at the top of the ladder platform, then turned back to the outside walls. She was decked out in all camo and wielded a massive sniper rifle; she looked like she took her job very seriously. 

 

We were introduced to many wandering faces and I instantly forgot their names. It turns out there were four other guard towers spread out around the block. Two were along the wall with the gate up front and one for each other wall; all manned with a body and a fancy sniper rifle. Ali explained that the guards took shifts during the day and at night they only had one on as more of a lookout to sound the alarm if something happened. Any artificial light at night would mean more power usage and would draw in the infected like a beacon. 

Alex said Meghan sometimes took guard duty, but had decided today to go with one of the scouting crews. Obviously she hadn't been with Christen's crew and still hadn't returned. It seemed like everyone had a job to do. It made me wonder where I would fit in. I had no desire to farm or teach kids, which didn't leave me with many other options. 

Alex mentioned that a lot of the women tended to the various backyard gardens. There wasn't enough space in the cul-de-sac to plant a large, proper garden, so they utilised all the backyards to grow separate small crops. My mouth was already salivating at the thought of fresh vegetables. They also has a small chicken coop that provided eggs and meat and even had two cows. I was thankful that our condo wasn't the one with the livestock in the back, which would stink. 

It was fairly well put together considering the circumstances. The rest of the people volunteered to do supply runs and scavenging trips to gather more supplies. That was the thing with a community. More people meant more mouths to feed and care for. Large groups were great until you had logistics to think about Alex had mentioned that the official population of Hargrove was eighty-three with us here. 

"What exactly do you do here?" I asked Alex. 

She smiled, "Well, I teach every other day for the kid's classes and take care of some of the gardens."

I gawked at her, I never expected her to want to teach. 

"I wasn't expecting that."

"My job's a lot less exciting than Ali's," Alex nodded towards Ali. 

"Nah, it's not exciting," Ali waved her words off. "I help out Carli with anything that needs done."

"So you're kind of in the inner circle then?" I asked. That could come in handy. 

Ali looked almost embarrassed, "I dunno about that. I do a bit of everything instead of just one job."

"If you're looking for an in, Christen and the Sergeant are Carli's second hand men," Alex added. 

"That's not what I meant, but I'll keep that in mind. What kind of job do you think I should take?" I re-directed the conversation. 

"Do they still need a handyman?" Christie asked. 

"You guys don't have to worry about that right now. Carli prefers that people get adjusted before they start contributing." Alex answered. 

"You guys can't have been here that long, two and a half weeks at most, but you're already doing jobs," I pointed out then pressed on, "How did you guys all end up here anyways? The cabin was chaos when I got back."

Ali and Alex shared a look. 

"Yeah, let's hear!" Tobin tore herself from talking to Rylie to butt in. 

"Meghan and I arrived here first," Ali started, guilt lacing her voice. "When we realised that the cabin was being overrun, Alex ran out to find Tobin. She was gone for a long time before Meghan demanded that we leave, so we took the truck and hoped that we would run into Ash on our way out. There was so many infected and we had no idea of what to do other than leave. Once we got in the truck, we couldn't spot any of you. So we left."

She looked ashamed, so Alex placed a hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing you guys could have done against that many infected, especially with us scattered around like we were."

Ali looked at me, pleading. "I didn't want to leave you, but we had no choice."

"Ali, I left when I didn't see you guys too, so I'd say we're even." I gave her an awkward one armed hug.

"We're together now." Tobin added. "That's what matters."

"You're like a little fortune cookie," I grinned.

Tobin narrowed her eyes at me, but before she could retort, Alex started her story. 

"As you can guess, I wasn't going to leave without Tobin. I stumbled upon Heather who was heading back from wherever she had been. She was screaming like a mad man about being surrounded, like we were in the middle of a battlefield or something." Alex took a breath, "Heather convinced me to check back by the cabin since she hadn't seen any sign of Tobin that far out. Once we got within range, the crazy bastard knocked me out cold."

"What!?" I took a step back in shock, like I had actually been pushed. 

"Yeah, she knew I wasn't going to stay put so she knocked me out and locked up the cabin. When I came to, I was so mad that I took a swing at her. It was dark out, but there was still lots of roaming infected. She claimed that she could tell from the tire marks and foot prints in the dirt driveway that you had come back and that Tobin was with you in the car."

I nodded impressed with Heather. All the tracking and hunting wisdom Whitney had attempted to pass on to me had originally come from Heather, so I wasn't surprised that she could fit the puzzle pieces together. I do think knocking out Alex was a bit much though. Leaders always had the tough choices. 

Alex continued, "I knew Heather would know what she was talking about. But I'm still pissed about being knocked out. We waited for two days in the cabin with no lights on and not a sound until the infected had mostly moved on. From there we started on foot with any supplies we could carry and one canister of gas just in case. We found an old dirt bike on another property about seven miles away; would've preferred a car, but it was better than nothing. Using the bike, we headed for Heather's shop hoping you guys would show up there."

"I'm glad you guys left my present there. I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't," I said. 

If Heather's store had truly been empty, who knows what we would have done. Unprotected in the city was like being dropped in an ocean full of sharks. We probably wouldn't have run into Christen and thus, would never have found Hargrove. So many different outcomes, but we had been lucky enough to find the best one. 

"From Heather's shop, we checked out nearby places and ran into Christen who brought us to Hargrove. Ali and Meghan had been here about four days at that point. We went back to Heather's shop every other day to see if you had found the Beretta and map in her office," Alex stopped and hugged Tobin again, "I still can't believe you two are here."

"That makes-"

I was interrupted by a familiar bellowing voice, "Ho-ly shit, Ash!"

I turned to see Heather jogging towards me and she gave me a big hug. The heavy duffel she had on her shoulder swung around and whacked us in the side. 

"Ouch,! I said as I pulled away, pushing the bag off. 

"Sorry about that, I forgot I had this thing on. Can't believe my eyes." She walked over and gave Tobin a hug too. 

"What do you have in there? Bricks?"

Heather grinned, "Guns and ammo from training."

We all looked over when Heather hefted her thumbs to the entrance. Various people were filing out of two large SUV's, including a tall woman decked out in full military attire. 

"I see that you noticed Sergeant Wambach, I'm helping her run the gun training. Some people just can't handle a weapon. You get to meet Carli and some others yet?"

I nodded, "Just coming off of the official tour. Pretty good setup here."

"Who's your friend?" Heather jerked her head towards Christie. 

My introductions were severely lacking today. 

"Sorry Heather, this is Christie and her daughter Rylie from our last survivor hideout."

They shook hands, "So you're the gun store owner I've heard about, nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Any friend of Ashlyn's, is a friend of mine." Heather said with a genuine smile. "Guess I should introduce you to the others."

She started towards the group at the entrance expecting us to follow. Heather seemed a lot more like the old Heather now. The last time I had seen her, she was still grieving for Whitney. I caught up to Heather after a couple of beats. 

"So, what's this I hear about you knocking out Alex?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, Heather is still a badass. Nothing has changed there!


	61. Our People

After yet another round of introductions I was officially tired of meeting people, My eyes were starting to cross. Sergeant Wambach briefly shook our hands before walking off. She wasn't very friendly or personable. Everyone else seemed nice though. One teenage boy around thirteen was being lightly teased about his crappy shooting; his face turning red. I could relate to that. A woman with dark hair quickly saddled up beside Ali, talking to her with a flashy smile. 

"Who are your friends?" She asked Ali as she smiled back at her. 

I should be the one asking that. 

"Ella, this is Tobin and this is Ash," She motioned to both of us. 

"Hi," Tobin said. 

I just nodded and crossed my arms. When Tobin saw this, she mimicked my stance and crossed her arms too, making me laugh. Ella frowned and Ali looked surprised by my cold greeting. Admittedly it wasn't very mature, I was acting like I was back in high school, but I couldn't care less. I turned from them to Heather. 

"So Heather, do I have to take your shooting course or do I get your seal of approval thanks to the training I've already got?"

"Sergeant Wambach has final say, so you'll have to show her. But I'll put in a good word for you," Heather winked. 

"Ash knows how to use an AR-15 now!" Tobin said, outing me. 

"Alright guys and gals, training is over for today. Head home and wash up for dinner at the clubhouse," Heather announced to the crowd. 

People started to trickle back to their condos. 

Alex leaned over to me, "Well that was rude." I couldn't help but notice the smirk on her face. 

"Shut up." was all I could say in my defence.

"She's actually pretty nice."

"Ella, pfft that's a dumb name."

Alex started to laugh. 

"I'm just gonna log in my guns and I'll meet you guys for dinner." Heather said and took off towards the club house. 

After another hour of catching up, we were brought into the clubhouse for dinner. Apparently it was four PM every day. At least they were keeping some traditions from the old-folk's community. The clubhouse had three large picnic tables in the centre with various other plastic tables and chairs all over. It still didn't look like enough seating for the eighty-three people Alex said resided here.

"Are there going to be enough seats?" I asked as I followed Alex and Ali to the back.

I guessed the kitchen was in the back from the smell of cooking food wafting out here. 

"A lot of people just grab a plate and take it home." Alex explained. 

There was a line forming by a large serving window with aluminium trays of food out resembling a buffet. I copied what Ali and Alex were doing and grabbed a plate with utensils, getting in line behind them. 

"smells good." Tobin said as she sniffed the air. "But I bet it won't be as good as Pinoe's food though." 

I nodded, "Once we go get all of them, Pinoe can cook some of her recipes for Hargrove."

"Who's Pinoe?" Ali asked. "And what do you mean you're going to get them?"

"She was the chef at the apartments we were at before coming here and I promised that we would go back for them once we found Hargrove."

The sound of a plate crashing to the floor had us whip our heads to see Christie bending over to pick up the shards. 

"Sorry," Christie apologised. 

Ali bent down to help, "No problem. Every house in Hargrove had dishes so we got tons."

I had a sinking feeling that Christie dropped the plates at the mention of bringing the apartment crew here. They would undoubtedly recant what had happened to Hope.

Once they picked up the plate pieces, the line started to move again and we finally reached the food. One pan had lasagne with cheese melting on top. It smelt heavenly. One of the kitchen workers was serving up, no doubt to make sure everyone only got their fair share. 

The next was a real garden salad full of fresh vegetables and I can't remember a time I was more excited to eat lettuce. In the end I had one of everything. We waited for the rest to finish being served and headed over to an empty table. I started in on my food before everyone had even sat down. I was starving. 

"Oh man this is good." Tobin said around a mouthful of lasage.

I could only nod as my own mouth was full. It tasted like beef. 

Once I swallowed, I asked, "Is this really beef?"

"You bet. Every once in a while, they cook up one of the older cows when a new calf has been born. They use all the meat and keep the rest in the freezers," Ali informed us.

I could cry tears of happiness right now. Going over four months without fresh beef or fresh vegetables made me realise how much I took going to the supermarket for granted. Sure you could raise your own cows and grow your own vegetables, but that was a full-time job in itself. And when you were constantly on the lookout for infected, it became impossible unless you were in a guarded place like Hargrove. 

We finished the rest of our food in silence, too busy chewing to talk. It reminded me of the big family dinners I was forced to go to over the holidays. I was starting to get full, but forced myself to finish all the food on my plate. You didn't dare waste anything edible now-a-days. 

I was on my last fork full when a single shrill alarm sounded. Everyone looked up from the table. 

"What was that?" I asked. 

Before I could get an answer, Carli's voice carried throughout the hall, "Remain calm everyone. The guards will take care of everything. Please go back to your dinners."

"When a guard spots more than a handful, they sound the alarm to let others know that they may need backup," Ali said to our table, her eyes glued to the clubhouse front door. 

"Should we go help?"

"No, they usually can handle it. If they can't, the alarm will be sounded again to signal others to grab a gun and help. Since we're in the city now, we get plenty of infected outside these walls on a daily basis and the guards are used to dealing with it."

"Have any infected ever got in?" Christie asked, her hand on Rylie's head. 

"Since we've been here, only one has snuck in," Alex said. "But no one was sure how it got in. The perimeter is checked daily for weaknesses and the gate is constantly guarded."

I was going to throw another question at them when the alarm went off for a second time. Ali stood up, her chair scrapping along the floor. 

"I'm gonna go take out a gun and check it out." Ali announced.

"I'll come with you," I said as I got up. 

Ali looked at me, "I dunno if that's a good idea."

"And why not?"

She just sighed, "Fine, but you won't be able to take out a gun since you haven't taken the course. Follow me."

Ali took off towards the door on our far right. She knocked and let herself in. Heather was already inside with Carli and a couple of others, all grabbing weapons. They stopped what they were doing and stared. Way to make a person feel out of place. 

"Sorry miss, but unless you've taken our training course, you can't have a weapon." Carli said politely. 

"That's fine," I said back, not offering the information that I had my Beretta on me. 

Heather and Carli shared a look and Heather nodded, silently vouching for me. Carli lead the way back out once Ali grabbed a newer model hunting rifle. All the guns had been painted with red stripes and I could only assume that was for identification purposes. 

The rest of the group must have handed over their weapons when they got here. They had another thing coming if they thought I was going to do that. I wouldn't be revealing my Beretta unless I absolutely had to. If the guards had it all under control like Carli said, then I wouldn't have to anyways. 

Most people were still sitting in their chairs while a few had gathered around the clubhouse windows. Once we were back outside I could see that some people with weapons  had collected around the gate and the guards in their towers were shooting silenced rifles. Ali ran to one make-shift guard tower and Heather to the other. With two people up there it was squished, but they could still shoot unimpeded. I felt marginally better with Ali and Heather at the helm.

Christen ran up and said something in Carli's ear and then she nodded. I noticed that Christen was packing a gun that hadn't come from the supply room. Looks like there was double standards with that rule. Christen made a point to flash me one of her wide mouthed grins before heading back to the gate and peering out the long slit towards the approaching infected. 

"Looks like there aren't as many as we thought. Guess one of the guards got twitchy and sounded the alarm again," Carli said breezily.

"Truck!" one of the guards bellowed and the gun fire stopped. 

"Is it one of ours?" Carli yelled up to the guard tower. 

The guard took a pair of binoculars and took another look outside of the walls. 

"It's ours!"

"Shit, we can't open the gate when we have the diseased out there. " Carli muttered to herself, "Maybe the guards can take out the closest ones and when they open the gate, people can be standing by to take out the ones they missed."

It didn't sound like she was actually talking to me, but I nodded anyways. 

"That sounds good."

Carli looked up startled, like she had forgotten I was there. She ran over to Christen, leaving me standing like an idiot by myself. I wasn't needed, but I had wanted to see how they handled this type of situation. Trying to make myself look less out of place, I headed towards the tower Ali was perched on. 

"Everything okay out there?" I yelled up the ladder. 

Ali looked back down at me briefly, "Yeah we got a bunch, but the rest are following the truck. Don't wanna risk hitting our people."

 _Our people._ Ali already thought of these people as her group. I felt kind of dejected. I mean we had only been separated for just over two weeks. It was kind of like when you broke up with someone and they already started to date another person after a week. It...hurt.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last update for today, Watching the Olympic football now. Come on France!


	62. Reunited

While I was licking my wounds, Ali went back to looking out her hunter rifle's scope, oblivious to how hurtful her words had been. I heard a few more muffled pops from the snipers before Christen shouted. 

"Opening the gate!"

It took her and two other guards to unlatch the massive iron gate and swing it open. Heather scrambled down from her perch to join the few with their guns at the ready. They were pointing their weapons towards the now open gate in case any infected snuck in. Orange light from the setting sun flooded in front the giant opening only to be blocked by the truck barrelling in. I recognised the mop of hair at the wheel. It was Meghan.  _Why was she by herself?_ You'd think that a supply run would have more than one person. 

 

Once the vehicle was inside, Christen and her two helpers tried to close the gate but infected had already started to slither in. They backed up in a rush, not wanting their fingers bitten off as they tried to close the gate. I took a handful of giant steps backwards as everyone started to unload rounds into the invading infected. It was like a live execution; except the things they were shooting were already dead. I would have helped, but I wasn't ready to reveal the fact I had a gun just yet and they seemed to have it covered. 

Onlookers from the clubhouse poured outside to see what was going on. Some started to run back to their condos at the sight of the infected, while others started to scream, Because screaming always helps. 

"You're clear to close the gate!" One of the guards yelled. 

Christen and the others hurried to close it back up before another wave came at us. 

"Wait!" Carli yelled. "What about the deceased's bodies? We can't just leave them in here!"

All this time Carli had been barking orders, but I noticed she didn't shoot once or attempt to help the people at the gate. She was a very hands-off leader. They made the worst kind of managers. 

Christen shared an exasperated look with the others currently closing the gate. 

"You guys keep your guns trained on that opening, yeah?" Christen said to the two holding the gate, then turned to the others by her, "The rest of you, help me drag these dead out!"

In a matter of minutes Christen and the crew had removed the fallen bodies and re-closed the gate with zero casualties. I suppose they should be used to the drill by now. With being located in the city, I can imagine the infected body count was far more than I'd dealt with so far. 

Meghan had since parked and gotten out of the truck, and was now starting to walk over to me. 

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Meghan whistled. 

"Really? That's the best you could come up with?" I arched a brow. 

Meghan flashed me a grin, "Yeah, I missed you too." And she gave me a hug.

"So you're a delivery driver now?"

"Sometimes," She shrugged. "When did you get here? Is it just you?"

"Tobin and I," I emphasised Tobin's name, "Got here after lunch time.

"Glad to hear the squirt is okay too. And i'm impressed." She gave me a light shuck on the arm. 

"Yeah well, I picked up a few tricks along the way." I said. 

I turned to see Heather approaching us, her eyes narrowed. As soon as she reached us, she used two of her fingers to poke at the back of my head. 

"Ouch!" I swatted away her hand. 

"What happened to your head? I didn't notice that before," Heather said as she tried to get a better look. "That stitches?"

Meghan got in on the action and started poking my head as well. They would make terrible nurses. 

"Wow, that's really helpful," I muttered as I took my head back. "I got concussed at the apartments we were at."

Heather's eyes went angry like storm clouds, "And you drove like that?" 

"Not like I had a choice and it wasn't that bad. I don't even have a headache anymore."

"Someone do that to you?" Meghan asked all business.

I hesitated, "Eh, it's a long story."

I quickly explained the events of the last few days to them, both listening patiently. 

"So the woman you're with, she shot the traitor?" Heather asked. 

I may have told the story in Christie's favour so that she didn't look as bad. 

"Yes and that's why they made her leave. They're too stupid to see that Christie did them a service."

Heather nodded, "Clearly. And you think mercenaries are after you?" 

"Not just me, anyone who is immune I think." I shrugged. "One of the women from the apartment had a theory that they were taking people who had been attacked, but never turned. Christie's daughter was immune and she was taken."

They both stood silent for a minute digesting all the information I had dumped on them. 

"We've seen the markings, just had no idea where they came from," Heather said, talking about the mercenary's graffiti left all over the place. 

"What happened before that? After we got split up." Meghan kept digging. 

I sighed, knowing I'd have to recount this to everyone, "I'd rather wait until we're all here so I don't have to tell it a hundred times."

"Fine." Meghan said, sounding slightly disappointed.

 

The rest of the civilians started to emerge form the dining hall once the gunfire and shouting had stopped. They reminded me of hesitant gophers peeking out of their burrows. I wondered how long some of these people had been here for. Some seemed like they hadn't even been outside these walls since they got here, judging from the fear radiating off of them when the alarm sounded.

Ali jumped down from her borrowed perch and joined us.

"Find anything good on your run, Meghan?" Ali asked casually, as if what she had just been doing was routine.

Meghan shrugged, "Not much, just some canned goods and diapers."

I had only seen a couple of infants, but I assumed the little poop machines went through diapers like there was no tomorrow.

By now, the others had joined our group.

"Is it all okay now?" Tobin asked.

"Yep, we got them all." Ali said with a smile. "I gotta go return this gun."

Heather clapped her hand once, "Alright, let's all meet up at our place in a few minutes and Ash can finish her story."

"And mine!" Tobin added.

Suddenly I was nervous. All this time, I imagined how I would tell them that I had killed Riley and now I found myself reluctant to share.

Those of us without borrowed weapons walked over to their house, while the rest logged back in their guns. What a pain that would be.

Once everyone finally moseyed over, I proceeded to explain what happened with Tobin and me after we got split up at the cabin. Tobin proudly showed off her arm like a badge of honour when I went over having to glue her back together like Humpty.

Meghan grinned full of herself when I admitted that I had learned the superglue thing from her. When it had come to explaining what happened with Riley, I made the split decision to emit it. After I finished our harrowing tale, Tobin just had to pipe up.

"You never told me what happened to your neck."

Everyone turned to scrutinise my now healed neck, confused a to what she was talking about.

"Stairs, right?" Christie winked.

"Yeah, fell down the basement stairs," I said.

"Man, you're clumsy." Alex shook her head. I think Alex was the only one to buy that story based on the dubious looks I was getting.

"Alright guys, I got another round of training to run tomorrow so i'm hitting the hay." Heather answered as she got up. "And you're all in my bedroom."

I guess Heather had got kicked to the sofa after all. Everyone muttered and Tobin yelled "Party pooper!"

Heather laughed and ruffled her hair, "Good to have you back Tobs."

"Why does everyone do that to me?" Tobin muttered as she smoothed out her hair.

"And you too," Heather said as she wrapped me in a giant hug.

"Thanks."

"I'll walk you guys back to your condo." Ali offered.

I wasn't sure why she needed to walk us back, but I didn't see the point in arguing. We went through another round of hugs before Christie and I left, her carrying an exhausted Rylie. Once we were on the street, Ali turned to me.

"So, what do you think? Pretty great place, right?"

"So far." I admitted.

"I'm just curious, but how do you make those radio broadcasts?" Christie asked quietly so not to wake Rylie.

"Uh, Carli makes the announcements from her office in condo number one. She has all the broadcasting equipment there."

"Only she can use it?" I probed.

"I've only ever heard her use it, dunno if they keep it restricted," Ali shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

I was really disappointed in Ali; she seemed to have no issues with assimilating into this place. All the questions we were asking her seemed to roll right off. Maybe she was so happy to be here that she ignored any red flags that would steer her otherwise. I'd like to think my general air of suspicion made me more objective towards people and places; or just downright mistrustful. Something about this place just didn't sit right with me nor did the leadership here. I would just have to stay on guard until I was proven wrong.

 

The next morning I awoke to the incessant cawing of roosters. I tried to block out the noise by smothering my head underneath the fat pillow, but it didn't work. It couldn't have been later than seven in the morning and with the late night last night, I was not loving natures alarm clock going off. Shoving the clean covers from my body, I stomped out of bed like a teenager being woken early on a Saturday.

Christie and Rylie were already sitting at the island in the kitchen.

"Good morning!" Rylie said cheerily.

"Good morning to you too. How'd you sleep?" I asked them both.

"Pretty good. Took a while to relax but it seems like a secure setup," Christie answered.

I peered around at all the cat paraphernalia, grimacing when my eyes landed on a cat shaped cookie jar on the counter.

"Think it would be ok if we redecorated?"

Christie chuckled, "Well I won't object, but I'd give it a bit before we start changing anything around."

"I like it." Rylie piped in. "Can we get breakfast now?"

"You were waiting for me?" Now I felt bad.

"Not for too long"

"Well go ahead, I'm gonna shower first," I shooed them out.

"Okay, we'll save you a seat." Christie said as they disappeared out the door.

 

I stood in the kitchen for a few more minutes enjoying the silence and the feeling of being on my own. I couldn't remember the last time I had truly been left alone. A little bit giddy, I jumped into the shower. It was a similar feeling to the first time your parents left you at home alone for a weekend. There was no alone time at the cabin and sure as hell had been none since being with Tobin.

I purposely took my time with my shower, saying my thanks to whoever designed these condos to run off of an independent system. After washing my face, I even applied a little mascara. I hadn't bothered with that in a long time. 

The walk to the clubhouse was a short one and I could smell the food as I entered the building. I got in the dwindling line and grabbed a plate of scrambled eggs and what looked like really thick bacon. Once I got to the end of the line, I spotted Tobin flagging me down while standing on her chair. A few heads near her were staring at her curiously. For a brief second, I was transported back to my high school cafeteria. 

With a grin, I hurried over, ready to inhale my food. It was a luxury to have food like this; it made me wary about what the cost could be. 

"Hey!" Tobin said loudly as I sat down. Ali was nowhere to be seen. 

"Hey yourself." I said back, "When did you guys get here?"

Heather put down her fork, "Not too long. Just right before Christie got here."

We finished our food and left the clubhouse as a group. Alex went off to the condo they used as a classroom, taking an unwilling Tobin and an excited Rylie with her. Ali was already with Carli, leaving me with Heather and Christie. 

"Well if you two are wanting to carry a gun or anything while you're here, you best come with me," Heather said to Christie and I. 

 I wasn't sure if Heather was in as deep as Ali was in regards to this place, so I still didn't want to admit how many weapons we had. 

"Of course." Christie nodded. 

"Now I aint gonna mention the Beretta I know you have, but I gotta know what other guns you brought," Heather said. 

"Two AR-15 rifles and ammo for them," I said, leaving out my old handgun that I could easily hide. 

"You know how to use them?" Heather raised a brow. 

"I got some training for it," I admitted. "Still kind of need a surface to shoot on to keep my aim, though."

Heather nodded, "they aren't easy to use at first, but you'll get the hang of them. You know I'm gonna need to log them, right?" 

"You think that's best?" I asked. 

Heather hesitated, "It isn't what I think. They're the rules."

I knew Heather wasn't all in with this place, she had too much sense. 

"What's with that?"

"This way they can better keep track of the guns and ammo. Less accidents, less theft. You'd be surprised how much crime happens when a group of people gather." 

I was about to ask if she was specifically talking about this place, when the sergeant from yesterday appeared behind us. 

"You ready to head out?" Her voice was so loud, it almost sounded like she was yelling.

"Yes I am and we got two more to add to the training roster."

Sergeant Wambach looked us up and down like she was accessing her troops. 

"Come on then."

"Do I need a weapon?" I asked, trying to match her brisk pace. 

Her eyes narrowed, "Yes, go grab those AR-15's you mentioned and meet us back here ASAP."

 _How had she heard that?_   Without giving me a chance to answer, she turned and walked off, dismissing me. That made my blood boil. 

"She's a little brash." Heather said with a shrug. "Don't know many sergeants who aren't"

"I think the word is rude," I pointed out.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, i'm sorry for making you guys wait so long for updates. I've been so distracted with the Olympics and work, and I've also been struggling with this story in general. I know where I want to go with it, but wording what I want to say is proving to be harder than I thought it would be. I'm never going to rush chapters just for the sake of uploading something, they will only every get uploaded if i'm relatively happy with the content and where it's going.


	63. Murder in paradise

After my initial assessment, I was given back one of the AR-15's I had handed over before we left. It was kind of insulting actually. Heather beamed at me like a parent at their kid's graduation, when the sergeant deemed me fit for duty; or at least fit to carry a handgun. 

Christie had elected to stay behind, not caring if she had a gun or not, while Heather and I had ridden out in one of the trucks to the location they were using as a firing range. It was a good distance away to keep the noise far from Hargrove; the way there was close to two hours by itself. I couldn't help but think of all the gas they were burning just to transport people there and back, but I guess that was the price you paid to play it safe. 

"You have the basics down, but can you still shoot with a bigger gun?" Sergeant Wambach asked as she stuffed the automatic weapon in my arms.

I would have taken it personal except Wambach was like that to everyone. The poor teen boy from yesterday who had been teased was back, trying to redeem himself and the sergeant was giving him no quarter. I swear he looked close to tears after another round of Wambach shouting instructions at him.

I adjusted the sights and jammed the butt of the gun against the spot where my shoulder met my torso. With a deep breath, I let out a burst of bullets. I only managed to hit the small target twice; I wasn't accurate with this weapon unless I had a surface to hold it on.

"Thought you said you could use this weapon." I could feel the steely gaze of the Sergeant Wambach burning into the back of my head. 

I wanted nothing more than to throw the gun down and tell Sergeant asshole to go fuck herself, but instead I gritted my teeth and kept at it. As I kept shooting, it seemed like the target was getting further and further away while the gun had become heavier. Once the gun clicked empty, I still had only managed to hit the target a handful of times.

I lowered the gun and stretched out my now sore shoulder. Heather walked over to me, and then whispered beside me. 

"You need to hit the target at least fifteen times to be allowed to use it."

"Well I passed the handgun test, so I really don't care," I lied. 

Sergeant Wambach joined us and I handed the AR-15 into her outstretched hand. 

"You're clear to use any handgun, but you're not allowed to use an assault weapon." She stated. "If you want to keep trying, you can join us again next week for another go."

I hated being told what I can and can't do, "Fine, then give me back my guns and ammo."

Wambach stared me down, with a slightly condescending smirk on her face, "Fine, then you can leave our community."

I was about to tell her to shove her community up her ass when Heather stepped in. 

"Ash, it's fine. You can take the course again next week and I'm sure you'll pass with flying colours." Heather shot me a look telling me to shut up. 

Wambach just grunted and walked away with the weapons I had given her. 

"That woman is a dick!" I hissed. 

Heather let out a laugh, "She aint the friendliest of the bunch, but she's got military training and survival skills that these people need. I think some of the population haven't left the gates since Carli started the place."

That was exactly what I had thought. 

"You really think this place is on the up-and-up?" I asked, my gaze holding hers. 

When she hesitated I knew there was something wrong. 

"Now if I tell you, you have to swear you wont go do something stupid," Heather demanded. 

"Me? never," I waved it off. 

"I'm serious, Ash."

"Alright, but the longer you're taking to tell me, the worse i'm going to think it is." I tapped my foot for emphasis. 

"There was a murder a week and a half ago in Hargove."

"I'm sorry, but a what?" Was all I could respond with. 

"A woman was killed in a pretty gory way; pieces were missing from her corpse. We woke up early one morning to find her in the middle of the street."

"How do you know it was a murder and not an infected?"

"Well for one, there was no sign of an infected on the entire block and the body didn't have any teeth marks or look chewed on. It was cut real clean with a blade, just in a savage manner." She paused before the next part, almost like she was stalling. "Some people suspect Meghan."

My brows shot up. 

"What? That's crazy! I admit at first I was leery of her, but don't you think she would have done something while we shared a cabin for almost four months?" I said, astonished.

"That's what we said, but there was some circumstantial evidence."

"But no definitive proof?" I threw my hands up in the air. "This is ridiculous, people are so stupid sometimes."

"Scared people are notorious for being stupid." Heather said.

"What kind of circumstantial evidence?"

"Well she was arguing with the victim, Clare, the night before about not being able to carry a weapon. She used to help out Wambach before I did and she wasn't going to let Meghan have her guns until she passed the training just like everybody else. She was pretty pissed."

"So? I'm pissed about it; does that make me a suspect?"

Heather gave me a look, "Be serious Ash. I understand you're upset. We all were when Carli all but accused Meghan, but we need to keep a level head."

"Did they find Meghan red handed in the library with a candlestick?" 

"I really don't think this is a joking matter."

"Sorry, I'm just kind of shocked," I apologised. The joke was in bad taste; after all someone was dead and a possible murderer was running around in Hargrove in plain clothes. 

"No murder weapon was found, nor a blood trail. They searched all the condos after and came up with nothing." 

"How is that possible?"

"Dunno, that's the kind of thing we had police for."

"You said she worked with the sergeant before you, did they get along?"

"I really don't know. We hadn't been here long enough at that point to tell. Why?"

"Well, aren't murders usually committed by someone close to the deceased?" 

"You're just saying that because you don't like the Sergeant," Heather pointed out. 

"Perhaps, but I remember being taught that in my criminology class. Plus it's common knowledge."

Heather seemed to think on it, "I do remember her telling me she used to be a field medic, so she'd know how to cut open a body."

"That's good to know," I nodded. "Still, it sounds kind of like a cover-up. There had to be some evidence like bloody clothes and I don't know, the missing body parts."

Heather let out a deep breath. "I might've felt the same at the time, but nothing has happened since and no one started acting odd after."

"Did they search Carli's place? Or her goon's place?" I asked. 

"You remember me telling you not to go and do something stupid, right?" Heather stared me down, knowing exactly where my thoughts were heading. 

 

The Sergeant and Carli were the authority around here. While they were keeping everyone else in line, who was going to keep them in check?

"Alright, we're heading back. Everybody meet back at the vehicles." The Sergeant's voice boomed almost as loud as the gunfire had been. 

Heather pointed her index finger at me, "We'll be finishing this conversation later."

I nodded in response as we jogged over to catch our ride back. Heather and I got into one of the trucks and to my dismay, Sergeant Wambach got into the driver's seat up front with Heather. The teen boy who had been trying his luck again, wore a similar face to mine when he saw Wambach in the driver's seat. 

"Bad luck, hu?" I whispered to him. 

He just nodded grimly. Just when I thought we were finally going to head back, another person opened the door.

"Got room for one more?" It was Ella. 

This was going to be one awful ride back. I had assumed she would ride back in the other truck like she did on the way here. The teen boy shuffled over to the middle, his arm flush against mine now. Ella jumped in with a smile. 

"Thanks"

The walkie-talkie on the dashboard crackled, "We're ready to go on our end."

"Alright, let's head back," Wambach barked into the receiver. 

"Ash, right?" Ella asked me over the teen in the middle. 

"Yep." Was my reply. 

Heather turned to the back seat, a grin on her face.

"You're pretty good with that handgun," Ella kept at it despite my less than friendly demeanour. 

She hadn't done too badly out there either. 

"Thanks to Heather here," I pointed to the eavesdropper in question. 

"She's tried to teach me too, but you must have some natural talent." She added. 

I wasn't sure what she was getting at. Trying to butter me up and wedge her way into our group? Trying to steal Ali? Yet again, I felt like I was suddenly transported back to high school. 

"Once you have as much practice as Ash, you'll be doing much better," Heather said. "You too, Mark."

The teen boy in the middle nodded at Heather's words, finally being included in the conversation. 

"Hmm." Sergeant Wambach mumbled from the front seat as the truck came to a halt. 

Heather turned back around in her seat, "What's going on?"

"People on the road."

We all leaned over so we could see out the windshield. There were two people standing in the middle of the road. One had their arm draped over the other's shoulder and was obviously injured. 

Wambach got out of the truck and Heather followed. 

"Are we supposed to just sit here?" Mark asked.

"Like hell I am." I said, getting out of the truck. 

As I approached them, I could hear the man pleading for Wambach to take them with us. The injured one was a female, each of her breaths raspy like her lungs were filled with fluid. 

"My sister's sick, she needs help!" the man all but begged. 

"We aren't taking no sick person back with us," Wambach said harshly. 

"You might be able to help her!"

"There's no help for those who are bitten except a bullet to the head."

Way to sugarcoat it. 

"Was she attacked by an infected?" I asked. 

Wambach sent me a harsh glare, clearly preferring that I would have stayed in the truck. 

The man nodded, jostling his sister in the process. She let out a moan and gripped her side. 

"How long ago?" 

"About an hour, maybe." He answered in a rush. 

"Let's lay her down so we can see how bad it is," Heather instructed, as she walked over to the man and grabbed the girl's other arm. 

Together they lowered her to the ground, her rattly breaths increasing in tempo. The brother slowly lifted up her blood soaked shirt to reveal an angry bite mark. It was still bleeding pretty badly for an hour old wound. I was no doctor, but I had a feeling she wasn't going to last long. 

The Sergeant must have thought the same because she said "She aint coming back with us."

"Please!"

"We can't just leave them out here to die." Heather said to Sergeant Wambach. 

"You wanna be responsible for her turning and biting others?"

"I sure as hell don't want to be responsible for leaving these two to die." Heather shot back. 

"They can ride in the back of the truck," I suggested. "It'll be pretty bumpy though."

We all looked at Wambach for her final verdict. I didn't think bringing a time-bomb back to Hargrove was a good idea, but chances are she wouldn't survive the trip there. 

"No."

I clenched my teeth. "They can't do any harm hitching a ride back."

"Listen here, missy." Wambach loomed over me, "I make the calls here and they aren't coming back with us."

Heather got up and lead us out of ear shot of the siblings. 

"She isn't going to survive the trip, we might as well let them ride in the back." Heather said. 

I was reminded of Ali right now, with her stray-taking ways. 

"What are we gonna do when she turns and tries to kill her brother? Then we got two of them riding along with us."

"Well, all the guns and ammo from training sure won't be of any use to us." I said, my voice full of sarcasm. 

Wambach shot me a narrowed eyed look. Heather stuck up her palm to me, silently telling me to keep my two-cents out of it. 

"Wambach, I trust your judgement, but not on this. I can't in all good conscience leave them here to die." Heather said firmly. 

Sergeant Wambach crossed her arms and appeared to think about it. 

"Fine, Heather. But they're your words, not mine." The Sergeant stormed back to the truck.

"Heather," I put my hand on her shoulder. "I really don't like that woman."

Heather nodded, "Never said I did, just that she has her place for a reason."

We walked back over to the siblings. The brother had his sister's hand in his, while she went through another fit of coughing. blood ran from the edges of her mouth, sprinkling the pavement. Heather kneeled down. 

"What are your names?" 

"Colt." The brother said. "And this is Cassandra."

"I'm Heather and this is Ash."

I waved slightly, as if she wouldn't know who Heather was referring to.

"We're gonna let you come with us, but for our safety we can't allow you to ride inside the cabin of the truck."

Colt nodded, "Thank you"

Together Colt and Heather hoisted Cassandra back to her feet, and this time there was no reaction from her. I could tell she was still alive from the faint rising and falling of her chest, but she wouldn't be for long. Once they loaded her into the back of the truck, Colt hopped in beside her.

"Son, I would highly recommend against riding with her back there." Heather said. 

"Would you leave your family to die by themselves?" Colt said back, more sad than angry. "I know there's no help for her now, but the least I can do is stay by her side."

Heather nodded, understanding Colt's words more than Colt knew.

"Just knock on the back window if you need us to stop."

Heather and I got back in and Sergeant Wambach floored it, jarring the two in the back. Asshole of the year goes to this woman. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made a slight change to the story, if you remember Aiden from the last chapter, well he's been taken out the story and I've replaced him with Ella, who as you can probably guess, is Ella Masar (Mcleod). I thought it was best to stick to actual players and i'm running out of USWNT players. Ella Masar is the next best thing, everyone knows Ella!
> 
> Sorry again for the slow updates, hopefully i will be back to regular updates from now on.


	64. Friendly Fire

We had only made it another hour before there was banging on the back window. 

"Stop" Heather said, annoyed that Sergeant Wambach had kept driving even though there was no way she didn't hear the banging.

The brakes squealed as we stopped. Heather got out and I followed, not wanting her to face this alone. I had snuck my Beretta to the training class, knowing I'd have to hand over any guns they would give me. 

Cassandra was apparently going into convulsions in the bed of the truck. Colt was standing up beside her, his hands interlaced on the top of his head as he freaked out. 

"Oh my god, Oh my god," He repeated over and over again. 

"Get out of there!" Heather commanded. 

Colt looked over at Heather, the words not sinking in. 

"Somebody help her!" Colt screamed as she started to flail even harder. 

I could hear the sound of bone cracking as Cassandra lurched into the side of the bed. This is why you normally had to move everything out of the way of seizing people.

"Colt, get out of there." I hissed. 

I planted a foot on the tailgate only to have Heather yank me back. 

"Like hell you're going back there." Heather hissed angrily. 

"The stupid idiot isn't going to get out." I pointed to the shocked brother. 

Heather went to the side and made a grab at Colt, "you need to get  out of there now!"

Colt jerked away from Heather's hand. Cassandra stopped convulsing, settling into an eerie calm. Colt let out a few choppy breaths and leaned down to her. 

"Cass," he laid a hand on her forehead. 

"Don't touch her!" I commanded as I peered into the bed. 

Cassandra's left arm was at an odd angle, the shoulder way out of it's socket. She appeared to be still except for the rapid movement behind her eyelids. 

"Son, you need to-" Heather's words were cut off as Cassandra reared up. 

Her teeth sunk into the side of Colt's face and his scream pierced the air like a siren. Sergeant Wambach jumped out of the truck, her handgun squeezed in her meaty fist. She didn't say anything as she shoved Heather out of the way. 

Cassandra's corpse continued to grope at Colt and he screamed, too shocked to move away. He was using one hand to push her away and the other was clasped to the side of his face that was now bleeding profusely. Red squirted from between his fingers and ran down his arm like a leak in an aquarium. 

Sergeant Wambach aimed and shot Cassandra through the side of the head, her body flopping to the side. Colt stopped screaming, but remained in place staring at his fallen sister. When Wambach raised her gun again, Heather grabbed her arm. 

"Hey, hey, hey" Heather said, fighting against Wambach. "You can't just shoot him, he's still alive!"

Sergeant Wambach shoved Heather off, "Not for long he aint." He'll turn just like that girl."

"How do you know that for sure?" Heather said, placing himself between Colt and Wambach. 

"Cause everyone who's attacked by those things turn."

Heather's eyes flashed to mine and I shook my head, praying that Heather wouldn't tell the Sergeant about my scratches. After what happened last time, I wouldn't be volunteering that information. 

"You a scientist now?" Heather said back to Wambach, her anger rising. 

Wambach's jaw popped out. Like a snake, Wambach shot forward and grabbed Heather by the collar throwing her to the ground. She lifted her handgun quickly and shot the grieving brother in cold blood. Colt's body fell forward, landing on top of his sister's. 

"Should've done that an hour ago." The Sergeant said before she got back into the truck. 

The horrified faces of Ella and Mark were staring out of the truck window. I'm sure my own face was wearing a similar mask. Was I destined to keep seeing people get shot in front of me? It's a sight I don't think I will ever get used to. To witness the life leave someone's eyes is something I'd hoped never to see. Anything I saw on T.V paled in comparison: it didn't even come close to capturing how horrifying it really was. 

I ran over to Heather and helped her back to her feet. 

"Fucking asshole." Heather muttered to herself. 

I don't remember ever hearing Heather swear like that before. Not that I had disagreed with the statement , but it was still odd to hear that come from Heather. 

"What now?" I asked. 

Heather looked at me and I could see a mixture of pain and anger in her eyes. This had hit a nerve with her, probably reminding her of what happened to Whitney. Heather swerved around me, heading straight to the driver's side door. Heather ripped open the door and yanked a surprised Sergeant from her seat. 

This was going to be bad. 

"You're going to clean that mess up, not us. We aint taking care of your dirty work." Heather scowled at Wambach. 

Instead of spewing split-second words at Heather, Wambach moved in really close to her so that they were almost face to face. 

"I aint doing shit."

Heather gave nothing away as she tackled Wambach to the ground. She got in one good hit before Wambach was able to assess what had happened; then the fists started to fly. They rolled on the ground, fighting. 

I spotted a couple of infected a couple of yards away; the noise from everything that had happened drawing them in. Where the hell was the other truck? After we had picked up the siblings, they had taken the lead and gotten a fair bit ahead of us. They should have noticed we weren't behind them anymore. 

Ella got out of the truck with Mark right behind her. 

"The dead are coming our way!" Ella announced like a lookout yelling "Land hoe!"

"Then get the fucking guns and help!" I yelled back. 

To my surprise, she didn't get defensive and instead, ran to the truck to get the guns. I turned back to Heather and Sergeant Wambach. 

"Are you two stupid?" I yelled. "We don't have time for this!"

They ignored me as they continued to fight like a couple of kids on the playground. Heather may have gotten a few good hits in there, which I was okay with, but Wambach had managed to gain the upper hand. She got up in a kneeling stance above Heather and started in with the powerful hits. 

I tried to shove Sergeant Wambach off, but she shrugged my attempts. She was built like a concrete building, refusing to budge as her rage built. Seeing no other option, I drew my Beretta from the back of my waistline and placed my gun forcefully against the Sergeant's skull. 

"You either stop, or we'll be dumping your body right next to theirs." I nodded towards the back of the truck, meaning every word. 

Sergeant Wambach stopped her barrage of fists, stilling when she heard my words. We all jumped thanks to the tension as we heard shots being fired behind us. Ella and Mark must have been shooting the encroaching infected. 

The Sergeant raised her hands up in surrender. 

"Get off of her." I demanded, stomping down the urge to shoot her right where she kneeled. 

Sergeant Wambach got up and stepped away from Heather. With the gun still pointed at the Sergeant, I helped Heather up once again. Her face was already a mess, the left eye swollen shut and blood splattered all over, clashing with the purple bruising already rising. Heather wiped at the blood dribbling out of the side of her mouth, spitting some onto the ground, and then tested out her jaw. 

Sergeant Wambach looked beat up, but not near as bad as Heather did. Wambach kept a stern eye on the gun in my hand. If she was scared, she sure hid it well. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say next, but I didn't have to worry about it as a female scream reached us. 

We turned to see Ella fall to the ground clutching at her side. There were no infected near them so I had no idea what could have happened to her. Putting our tense situation aside, we ran over to Ella and Mark 

"What happened?" I asked as I leaned down by Ella

Fresh blood was soaking her shirt as she writhed in agony, her hands pressed to her back. 

"Oh my god, I am so sorry Ella!" Mark yelled hysterically, dropping his gun. 

Wambach quickly scooped it up and took out the still standing infected. 

"Mark, what happened?" I demanded again. 

Mark looked from me to Ella, his brows drawn, "I accidentally shot her!"

"My back!" Ella yelled, pain forcing her voice higher than I knew possible. 

"I told you that you weren't ready to handle a gun, you little shit!" Wambach said, charging at Mark. 

"I was trying to help!" Mark cowered as Wambach stopped inches away from him, looming over him. 

"Look what you did!" The Sergeant stabbed a finger in Ella's direction. "This is why we have this program, to prevent accidents like this."

I guess their gun control and training programs really did have a purpose other than exercising control over the populace. That could have easily been me, back all those months ago when I had been handed a gun for the first time in my life. 

"Do you have a first aid kit or anything in the truck?" I asked the Sergeant. 

With one last glare at Mark, The Sergeant took off to the truck and came back with a red medic kit. 

"Move," She barked at me. 

I shuffled out of the way and let the Sergeant get to work. using the stainless-steel scissors, she tore Ella's shirt around the wound and immediately pressed some gauze to it. Ella screamed again as she put pressure on the wound. 

"I need to slow the blood flow before I can assess the full damage." Wambach said to Ella. 

Ella nodded and bit her lip as the Sergeant continued to prod at the gunshot hole. I can't imagine how much it must hurt to be shot, but I was kind of impressed with how well Ella was handling it. 

"Ash." Heather taped on my shoulder. "Infected."

"You think we can move this to the truck?" I asked the Sergeant. 

"I'll try to bandage the bullet hole. You keep those things away from us in the meantime." The Sergeant commanded. 

"You best head back to the truck Mark," Heather said to the teen. 

Mark didn't argue, "I'm so sorry, Ella." He ran back to the truck, leaving me to take out the infected that were coming out of the tree line surrounding the road. 

"I'll get the bodies out of the back of the truck, you keep those infected off of them." Heather nodded towards Ella and the Sergeant. 

"You going to be okay doing that?" I asked, referring to how badly she was beaten up. 

"Been in worse scrapes than this," Heather said gruffly. 

I nodded and set towards the bodies shuffling out of the woods. Their shadows became darker as they emerged from the woods like a tribe readying for war. The Beretta was fully loaded, but a person could easily rip through them all if you didn't take your time and aim. I picked off the one's that finally came clear of the overgrown trees. One was garbed in a bright orange construction workers vest, making it that much easier to hit. Irony.

The other truck in our convoy finally came back for the finale, stopping by our parked vehicle. Heather was currently lifting Cassandra's body out of the truck bed princess style. She hung limply, her arms and legs swaying as Heather moved. After she put her down, Heather and the driver shared some words. They sprang into action, getting out with guns at the ready. Some joined me and we formed an execution squad of sorts for the incoming infected. The rest ran to The Sergeant to help move Ella.

"This is gonna hurt," The Sergeant said bluntly.

Both her and another man got Ella to her feet and placed her arms over their shoulders. She cried out in pain as her torso was stretched. Wambach had tied a bunch of gauze around her waist, holding the bunched up wad by her wound in place. blood trailed behind her as they moved her quickly to the truck.

"Come on, let's go!" The Sergeant yelled once they had gotten Ella in place in the back seat.

I shot one last infected as I ran to join them. The Sergeant shoved the keys at me.

"You're driving, just follow the other truck and we'll get there."

I couldn't even argue as The Sergeant jumped in the back seat to look after Ella. Heather got into the passenger seat, not even offering to drive. To be fair, she did have one eye swollen shut. I cursed under my breath and got in. The other truck honked as they started back to Hargrove; I punched the gas and followed them.  

 

 


	65. Jackass

When we finally approached the gate at Hargrove, the guards had done their duty and cleared the way for us. Wambach was the first one out of the truck, enlisting Mark to help move Ella. The gate hadn't even been closed behind us when they started to remove her from the backseat.

Ella had paled considerably. Blood loss tended to do that to a person. She was still breathing; it was just laboured from being jostled during the drive. We had managed to turn the hour we had left into thirty minutes thanks to some speed driving. It would have been fun under other circumstances.

People started to swarm us immediately.

"What happened?" Carli demanded at the forefront.

"Friendly-fire incident. Where's Oscar?" Sergeant Wambach wasted no time.

If I remembered correctly from my day of introductions, Oscar was a surgeon and the resident medical doctor at Hargrove.

"I think he's in his condo. Get Ella to the doctor's office in the meantime and prep her for surgery. We'll find him." Carli patted Sergeant Wambach on the back and took off down the street.

Ali joined us just in time to see Ella being carted away.

"What happened to her? she get bit?" I didn't care for the blatant concern in her voice.

"No, Mark accidentally shot her." I said back tersely.

Ali turned to Heather, "And what happened to you? Geez, what went on out there?"

"Had a little bit of a disagreement with the Sergeant, that's all." Heather replied. 

"You should get some treatment for that too," I pointed to her face. 

"No use bothering them, Ella needs their attention more. Hope the poor girl is alright." Heather waved off my comment. 

"How did Mark accidentally shoot her?" Ali asked. 

"He's not so good with guns"

"I'm gonna go help find Oscar," Ali bowed out and I couldn't help feeling irked. 

It's not like Ali and I were dating, but we had been through an awful lot together. It wasn't just the Ella thing either; it was that she assimilated so easily to this place that I felt left in the dust. I wanted to smack her upside the head. 

"Jealous are we?" Heather cracked a grin, despite the pain her face must have been in. 

I crossed my arms. "Shouldn't you go put some ice on that or something?"

"I'll go see if the kitchen staff can spare any."

I watched her walk away, not really sure of what to do with myself. The rest of our training crew had begun to take back the weapons and park the trucks. I decided to head back to my condo and wait to hear any news. 

 

When I opened the front door, I found Tobin and Rylie on the floor colouring away. Christie was seated at the island going over some papers. The scene looked very domestic; I fought the urge to yell, "Honey, I'm home!" 

"Ash!" Rylie hopped up and gave me a tackle-hug. 

I patted her head, "How was school?"

She made a scrunched up face, "Boring, but they gave us some markers and colouring books to keep."

I could only laugh. "And Tobin has taken them from you? What a surprise. How has your second child been Christie?"

"I was starting to get worried, you were gone for a long time for a shooting lesson." Christie said as she put down her papers. 

 

"That's because they took us two hours away from here so that the noise never linked back here."

"Jesus, that's a long trip." Christie's brows shot up. 

"Wait til you hear what happened," I sighed as I plunked myself on a stool beside Christie at the island. 

When Tobin and Rylie returned to their colouring in, I recounted the afternoon to Christie in a low voice. 

"Is she going to live?" Christie asked about Ella. 

"I don't know," I said honestly. "She didn't die on the way back, so i'd take that as a good sign."

"Actually I was talking to Oscar today for a little bit. I can't remember what it's called, but he specialises in surgery on specific organs. A resident had a ruptured spleen a while ago and he was able to save them thanks to his skills and the medical equipment they have here. Apparently they have a fully functioning, make-shift operation room in one of the condos at the front that they outfitted as a doctor's office. 

"Wow, that's lucky."

"Now-a-days it sure is. By the way, we had them make up a plate for you for supper." Christie walked over the the apartment-sized fridge and pulled out a plate wrapped in tinfoil. My stomach growled at the sight. 

"Thank you" I said around the first bite I shoved into my mouth. 

It was some kind of noodle dish and it tasted delicious. There was even some bread to go with it.

"And guess what else we brought you back?" Tobin said excitedly from the floor. 

"More food?" I said hopefully. 

Christie shoved a plate in front of me that had a small slice of chocolate cake resting on it. 

"Oh. My. God. You guys are the best!"

The cake was divine. It tasted like one of those boxed, powder mix ones, but any cake was better than no cake. 

"Tobin shoved her piece in her mouth all at once!" Rylie exclaimed. 

Tobin turned red. "I did not!"

"Well, at this rate, I'm going to gain some of that weight back," I said after all but licking the plate. 

"You just missed Ali and the others before you got here." Christie said. 

"Yeah, I saw her when we drove in. She went to hunt down Oscar. Didn't see Alex or Meghan tough."

"You might want to talk to Meghan, she said she's doing a run soon and was wondering if you wanted to go with her."

I thought about it. "Do you know when she was planning on going?"

"She didn't say, she just said soon."

I definitely preferred not being cooped up. We spent too much time like that at the cabin and now the thought of being trapped in these walls made me itch. I could see myself being part of the scavenge team, maybe that could be my job here. I could have a cool nickname like The Runner. But I was getting ahead of myself. I'm sure there were some requirements they had, just like the gun training process. 

"I'll have to talk to her. Sounds like the job for me."

"I figured." Christie smiled, but it faltered. She leaned in closer so the others wouldn't hear. 

"I heard some things about Meghan from the people here."

Thanks to Heather, I knew exactly what Christie was going to say. 

"That they're all stupid and think Meghan killed that girl?"

Christie seemed shocked, "I take it you heard too then?"

"Trust me, Meghan is innocent. I admit I was...weary of her when we first met, but we shared a cabin with her for over three months. Don't you think she would have done something then?" 

Christie looked me in the eyes, "I believe you. And from what I've met of her, she seems okay enough to have won over your friends."

"I think it's the Sergeant," I whispered. 

"Well you said she was a combat medic and after what she did to Heather, she seems like a more likely suspect."

"I think it's a conspiracy between Carli's group. Like they are covering it up."

"You sound like the alien guy from the History Channel," Christie pointed out. "You don't like this place, do you?"

"It's not a matter of liking it here; it's a matter of trusting the people running it."

"We've all got secrets to hide." Christie said darkly. 

I jumped down from the stool, "I'm going to return these dishes and see if I can hear any news about Ella."

"It's almost surreal to be able to safely walk down the street again without fear of the sick ones." Christie said. 

"Now we have to worry about other things going bump in the night," I muttered. 

"Do I have to go?" Tobin asked, clearly contempt colouring in like a child. 

"You can come with me and we can find Ali. It's getting pretty late."

I pulled back the curtains to see the darkened street. If we waited any longer, we'd need flashlights to navigate the street. 

"Can I leave these here for tomorrow?" Tobin pointed to the colouring supplies and all I could do was laugh. 

"Of course you can, kiddo." I teased. 

Tobin said her good nights and we headed outside.

"Are you going to be gone all the time?" Tobin asked, her head down as if she was talking to her feet. 

"Depends on what kind of employment I can get here," I answered honestly. 

"Do you like it here?" Tobin looked up at me. 

I hesitated, "Sure, we have walls and food."

"You sound like you don't"

Tobin wasn't one to be fooled. Distracted perhaps, but not fooled. 

"I think I just need some time to adjust."

Tobin nodded, "Ali said this place is exactly what we could have hoped for."

So Ali was now spewing their propaganda for them? seems like she needed something harder than a smack upside the head. 

"We'll see."

I opened the clubhouse that served as the cafeteria and deposited my dirty plates. One of the cooks was still inside, prepping for tomorrow I assumed. 

"Excuse me, but can you point us towards the doctor's office?" I asked the lady. 

She explained how it was only two condos down from here. we thanked her and headed off to see if Ella would make it. There were people all over the front porch and grass. I had to worm my way through the crowd. Some people were even holding lit candles as some sort of vigil. Once we finally got inside, I tried to spot Ali. 

I quickly had to shuffle out of the way as a dark haired woman rushed past me with tear stained cheeks on her way out of the front door. Ella seemed to really have a place in this community. I tried to ignore the spike of unwanted jealousy surge through me; now was not the time for that. 

The living room had been made to look like a waiting room fitted with various chairs. The wall separating the living area and bedrooms had been knocked down to allow for more room and easier access. There was a sign on the bedroom door letting us know that it was the operating room. 

Tobin tugged on my hand, "There's Ali."

I let her lead me over to her. She was talking to Sergeant Wambach and Christen. 

"So what's the verdict?" I asked the Sergeant. 

She still had her green scrubs on and was just removing her latex gloves. 

"As I was just telling these two, Ella is going to live. The bullet punctured her left kidney, but Oscar was able to save it. Her injured kidney won't ever run at a hundred percent again, so it's a good thing you can live with just one."

The Sergeant wiped at her sweaty forehead. She had a nice shiner under her right eye. 

"That's good news," Ali let out a sigh. "Is she still out?"

"The aesthetic will keep her under for about another hour or so, and then the morphine will help keep her doped up and she'll probably fall back asleep."

"Does that mean no visitors?" Christen asked the Sergeant.

"Not 'til Oscar gives the go ahead, but I assume in a few hours."

The Sergeant left and we hunkered down in the uncomfortable plastic chairs. My mind wondered off to my Beretta. No one had mentioned that I had pulled it out during our excursion and the Sergeant knew I had it on me. What was she waiting for? Had she forgotten in all the excitement? Did she unilaterally decide that I was good enough at handling it to carry it around? Ugh, all the questions made my head hurt. Just in case they did come a knocking, I would hand over the plain black handgun that we also had stashed at the condo claiming that was the only weapon we had and hope they bought it. 

 

We waited for another hour before Ali and I took Tobin back to their condo. It was really dark this time, making the trek harder than it should have been. Heather was lying on the couch in the living room with a bag of ice on her face. 

"How's the face?" I asked. 

"Fine, thanks to some Advil and ice." She lifted the bag to reveal her bruised face. At least the swelling had gone down a bit. 

Alex and Meghan were sitting at the island. 

"Hear anything about Ella yet?" Alex asked. 

While Ali parroted what the Sergeant had told us Meghan walked over to me. 

"So, how'd you feel about going on a run with me?"

I couldn't help myself. "I prefer the elliptical," 

Meghan shot me a droll look, "You know what I mean."

"Depends. Do I have to qualify or something?"

"Nope, this job is purely based on who volunteers for the job."

"Beat's babysitting all day," I shrugged. 

Tobin was too busy talking to Ali about Ella to hear my jab. 

"Good, because looks like i'll be going out again at the end of the week and I already volunteered you." Meghan grinned. 

"What if I had said no?" 

"One day of dealing with kids and you'd be begging me to take you along. We're kind of alike you and I and I couldn't deal with whiny kids all day."

That was a slightly disturbing thought, her and I being alike. 

"Did you forget that I was on my own with Tobin?" I joked. 

Meghan looked at Tobin who had just emerged from the bedroom in her pyjamas. 

"She's a little different from most kids though," Meghan joked back. 

"Fair point."

 

I stayed and visited until almost everyone decided to call it a night. Ali and I walked back to the clinic in silence. We had never had to force conversation before. The vigil had dispersed and we no longer had to fight our way inside. The Sergeant was just leaving as we entered the front door. 

"She's awake, you can go and see her if you'd like." The Sergeant hefted a thumb towards the back. 

We headed to the converted bedrooms where Ella was currently resting in a single bed propped up on multiple pillows. 

"Hey," She smiled weakly at us as we entered. 

A tall man in scrubs was standing beside her. He was very tan with black hair and dark eyes. It took my mind a few seconds to remember that he was Oscar, the surgeon. 

"I'm glad to hear you're okay," Ali walked over to her bedside and gave her a light hug. 

"It's all thanks to DR. Perez here."

Oscar waved off her comment. "I couldn't have had a better patient. Your body handled the operation better than I could have hoped. I wish all my patients had done so well."

He laid a hand on Ella's shoulder in a friendly gesture. Oscar had really good bedside manner for a surgeon. 

"Now you get some rest." He said and I had a feeling that was more for us. 

"Will do, and you get some rest too," Ella said sternly.

Oscar laughed, "You don't have to tell me twice, if you need anything, Annie will be right outside."

He walked out, giving Ali and I a nod. 

"Wait doc, I got a question for you." Ali said as she followed Oscar out of the room, leaving Ella and I alone. 

We awkwardly stared at each-other. I hadn't expected to be left alone with her. 

Ella broke the silence first, "So I think I know why you aren't too warm towards me."

Instead of playing aloof, I answered her directly, "Yeah, and what would that be?"

Ella grinned. "Ali."

Her smile wasn't a malicious one, more like she had a private joke she wasn't letting me in on. 

"And what would Ali have to do with anything?"

Before she answered, the brown haired woman that had rushed passed me in the waiting area earlier, burst into the room. 

"I step out for a minute to use the washroom and you decide to entertain more people," she exclaimed, as she ran over to Ella. 

"Of course, anything just to screw with you." Ella took her hand and they kissed. 

On the lips. 

Her joking smile made all the more sense now. They pulled apart and Ella looked at me, her face splitting into a big grin at the dumbfounded look on my face. 

"Oh yeah, I forgot to say, I'm not into Ali." Ella laughed. 

I couldn't help but laugh in response. The dark haired woman turned to me with an eyebrow raised. 

"You thought Ella was after Ali?" She snorted. "All Ali talked about when she was here was Ashlyn, and when she wasn't here, she was heading back to that gun shop to see if you guys had found the map. I'm Erin by the way."

I took her outstretched hand. "Well, I feel like a jackass now," I said, scratching at the back of my head. 

"How about we start over?" Ella offered. 

"Deal."

Ali chose that moment to re-appear. She took a step back. 

"Did I miss something?" At the confused look on her face we all burst into fits of laughter. 

"Not a thing." I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. I can't remember the last time I laughed like that. 

"Sounds like the doc thinks you're gonna make an almost full recovery." Ali said, choosing to ignore our hysterics. 

"I guess Mark owes you a kidney." I joked. 

"Poor kid was here the entire time. Erin had to shove him out twenty minutes ago," Ella sighed. 

It was pretty big of Ella to not hold a grudge against Mark for shooting her. If it were me, I'd be demanding his kidney as my due. 

"Speaking of that, thanks for the visit guys, but Ella needs her rest." Erin said, placing a hand on her hip. 

Ali and I said our goodbyes and headed out. 

"So you gonna tell me what that was all about?" Ali questioned me as soon as we hit the last front step. 

"Girl stuff."

"Last time I checked I fit that requirement, spill Harris."

I sighed. Did I really want to have this conversation with her?

"I haven't been the nicest to Ella because," I bit my lip; this wasn't coming out easily. "Well, I thought there was something between you two."

Ali stumbled. "You know Erin is her girlfriend right?"

"Now I do."

"So," Ali raised a finger, "You were jealous then."

I pursed my lips. I knew this is how this conversation would go; me having to cop my feelings. Instead of teasing me, Ali's face split into a giant grin. 

"Guess we haven't really talked about it, have we?"

"Not like the normal dating rules apply here. We can't just go out to dinner and a movie, you know." I shrugged, still uncomfortable with this conversation. 

Ali stopped me and grabbed my arm, swinging me to face her. We were standing in the middle of the road under the starlit sky. There were a few solar powered lampposts blazing along the sidewalk, but not enough to see properly. 

"Ash, would you like to go steady with me? Whatever that means now." 

Her words were casual, but Ali was standing ramrod straight. I smiled at her.

"Can't say I've ever been asked that way before."

"Is that a yes?" She asked hopefully.

I put my arms around her neck and kissed her on the lips. For a millisecond she stayed still until she must have clued in that I was saying yes. Her arms encased me and she kissed me back excitedly. I pulled away and her lips stayed on mine until it was either part, or fall over together. 

In a very unlike-me manner, I pulled her towards my condo. 

"How about we finish what we started at the cabin?" I shot her a sly grin. 

She looked shocked, but was allowing me to pull her towards the other side of the road. Slowly a goofy grin caught on her face. 

"You sure?"

"I'm even sober this time." I laughed. 

We quietly walked into the house and tiptoed to my room like a couple of teens out after curfew. Luckily Christie and Rylie were already in bed. As soon as I shut the door behind us, Ali pushed me up against the wall and started to kiss me like she was on death row. The tingling that had started in the pit of my stomach now began to spread. With each deep kiss, warmth pumped through my veins. 

We stumbled to the bed, which was only three steps from the door thanks to the small size of the room. Ali fell back taking me with her. Using my dominant position, I kissed her languidly, my hands running along the sinews of her toned chest. Her hands roamed down my back, giving my butt a squeeze and pushing my body closer to hers. 

Our breathing was almost embarrassingly laboured from the heavy making-out. Ali grabbed onto me tight and flipped us over so that she was now on top. Her lips moved from my mouth to my neck in a sloppy-kiss trail. Her lips landed lower, between my breasts as her hands moved to unbutton my jean shorts. 

She reared up and pulled off her shirt, revealing her toned torso. I ran my hands over her bare skin, it contracting at my touch. 

"Do all ex-Penn state girls look like that with their shirt off, did I pick the wrong college?"

"Too bad you'll never find out."

I grinned at her possessive tone. 

"You not on your period this time?" I teased. 

"Fuck off."

Ali stopped the laugh that was threatening to escape my lips by lowering herself back down and kissing me gently. She ran her hands up and down my bare legs as she helped me tug off my shorts. I resisted the urge to shiver. My bottoms fell to the floor where her shirt was currently resting. I wrapped my legs around her, pulling her closer to me, our lips meeting again. 

Sometime later, I woke up still half asleep. A noise like a tree branch scraping on a window had woken me. Weird, considering there were no trees by my bedroom window. I lifted my head, Ali still breathing deeply behind me. I could have sworn I seen a shadow cross my window, but a wave of drowsiness drew my head back to the pillow and I fell back asleep without giving it another thought. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok i'm sorry, this chapter seems so long. It took me forever to type it all up, I had planned to upload this about 4 or 5 hours ago but I got bored typing so had to come back to it. Maybe stick to slightly shorter chapters next time haha


	66. Serial Killer?

I poked my head out of my bedroom door to see if the coast was clear. From the sunlight glaring through my window, I could tell that it was still pretty early in the morning. I had shaken Ali awake and she was currently putting back on her rumpled clothes from last night, readying for her walk of shame. I'm glad it wasn't me having to do it. 

"I don't hear or see anyone." I whispered. 

Ali finished pulling her jeans up and sighed. 

"Why am I sneaking out like this again?"

"Is this how you want people to find out we're together?" I cocked out my hip. 

Her lips curled up and she yanked me too her placing a giant kiss on my mouth. 

"Whatever you say darling." She purposely exaggerated the last word with a grin. 

I kissed her back and then shoved her out the bedroom door.

"Jeez woman, you're not even going to let me put on my shoes?"

"I could've tossed you out in your underwear if you'd like," I grinned evilly

"Next time, you're coming to my place and I'll kick you out in your underwear."

"That'll leave quite the impression on our neighbours, plus what about Tobin and Alex?"

Ali's grin that seemed to be permanently etched on her face since she woke up, faltered. She put down her shoe she was slipping on as realisation sunk in. 

"How should we tell them?"

I ran my hands up and down my arms, "I have no idea."

"They're like our family now, it's like telling your sisters about your new partner. Or in Tobin's case, it's like telling your daughter she has a new step-mom. You know Ash, I will never be able to thank you for the way you kept her safe on your own. I can only imagine how hard it must have been, Tobin isn't cut out for this lifestyle. I owe you for that, I don't know what I'd do without Tobs. She's so lovable."

"Well, I'm not a diamond girl, so how about you share some of the dirt on this place?"

"Ash, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this place, so stop looking for something." She said like a mum scolding a child. 

I was about to argue when the front door flew open. Christie rushed in and almost face planted when she seen us in the kitchen.

"Christie!" I said louder than I should have. I sounded guilty. "I can-"

"You two need to come outside, now!"

Then she ran back outside, leaving Ali and I to follow. 

"I guess we should follow her then."

We walked outside, squinting into the morning sun. There was a small crowd of people towards the back side of the cul-de-sac. Together, we ran up only to halt at the sight of red smeared on the road like a bloody chalk drawings. Christie was one of the few gathered around. She waved us over and moved out of our way so we could see more clearly. 

Something that was once a human was spread all over the pavement like roadkill. The body cavity had been hollowed out viciously, almost like someone had attempted to cut the carcass in half. Tendons and flesh were scattered around the crime scene and I couldn't tell if it was on purpose or just a result of the attack. 

It was difficult to guess, but I assumed the body belonged to a woman from the long strands of hair matted to the ground in blood. Any clothes were torn away and the torso was too mangled to tell from just a glance. It was like she was laid out as a sacrificial offering to some heathen God, except for the lack of ritual symbols and items around the body. 

"What the hell?" I looked to Christie for answers. 

"Chris just found the body ten minutes ago. Carli isn't even here yet," Christie answered. 

The man who Christie pointed to when she said Chris, looked like he was about to puke.

"Did anyone see an infected?" I asked. 

"Don't know," Christie said. "I just got here before I came and got you guys. Rylie's still asleep, thank god. I don't want her to have to see this."

I turned to Ali, "Quite the safe place here, hu?"

She clenched her teeth, "I gotta go get Carli." She took off, sparing one last look at the crime scene. 

Other curious people were starting to come out of their condos like groundhogs from their burrow. They were in for a surprise. 

"Chris," I put my hand on the shocked man's shoulder. "Can you go get a large white sheet to cover the body?"

He nodded at me dumbly, his legs walking ahead of his body as he left. 

"Quick thinking." Christie said. 

I moved around the scene and tried to look for some footprints. With this much blood and carnage there should be trail. I couldn't spot anything that indicated a direction. If it had been an infected, they would have left us a trail of bread crumbs, or in this case, a trail of innards to follow. They weren't known for their brain power. 

It was hard, but I forced myself to kneel down and look closely at the body. If someone had told me six months ago that I would be examining a body, I would have broken down in laughter. 

It didn't look like the flesh had been gnawed on. I couldn't see any visible bite marks along the extremities. Clearly whoever had done this, wasn't looking to saw into bone, but stuck to easier targets that could be cut with a very sharp knife. The arms and legs, while sliced and covered in blood, were still attached to the torso with no evidence that the killer attempted to sever the body parts. 

"What are you doing?" Carli's authoritative voice boomed.

I looked up to see that she was talking to me. 

"Trying to see what," I looked her dead in the eyes. "Or who did this."

"We have people that will do that, now please step away." She commanded me. 

She was still in her pyjamas, clearly having been just woken up. Ali was at her side, jerking her head, silently telling me to step away. I glared at her, but stood back up. Chris chose this moment to reappear with the sheet and handed it to me, still in a daze. 

"What's this for?" Carli demanded.

"You really want everyone seeing a mutilated body on display?" I asked fanning the folded sheet out. 

Christie grabbed one end and we gently lowered the sheet onto the body. For a brief moment I was reminded of the time we buried Whitney. I shook my head to dispel the unpleasant memory. I remembered how sad I was back then, but now all I felt was anger. 

Carli had a duty to keep these people safe and by not catching the killer, she allowed this to happen again. She exposed me and my friends to this menace. I walked around the now covered body to Carli. 

"What are you going to do about this? I heard this wasn't the first time someone was murdered in the streets." I got right up in Carli's face. 

The rest of our group had decided to join the spectacle. 

"Ash?" Tobin asked, wide-eyed. 

"Hey, let's go back to the condo." Ali said as she tugged on her arm and towed her back down the street as she complained about always being left out. 

"Ho-ly shit," Heather said. 

Alex's face had paled at the sight and Meghan stood defiant beside her. No doubt she would be a suspect again just because stupid people here were looking for a scapegoat. 

"I'm going to chalk it up to the stress of finding the body, but you need to back away." Carli practically growled at me. 

I felt a hand curl around my arm and yank me to the side. It was Heather. 

"Now's not the time." The way she looked at me told me not to do anything rash. 

The rest of Carli's entourage joined us, the Sergeant among them. I watched her reaction, or lack of, as she took in the sheet clad body. They started to shoo the spectators away. 

"Everyone needs to head to the clubhouse for breakfast and let us handle this." Carli said over the murmuring that was breaking out. "The cooks have already been informed that it will be earlier than normal, so please head there now."

She looked directly at me as she finished her sentence. Most people started to walk away, but a few had to be prodded gently to start migrating towards the clubhouse. I was among those few. 

"Come on, Ash. Carli can take it from here." Heather said as she dragged me along with her. 

I whispered to Heather, "That wasn't an infected."

"Keep walking." Heather said as she glanced back.

I kept my head facing forward, knowing that Carli and her groupies would be watching. I was going to get a reputation as a shit-starter soon. 

People were eyeing Meghan as we walked. Once we were far enough away, Heather leaned in beside me. 

"What happened to the body?"

"Looks like someone tried to cut her in two."

Heather tugged at the collar of her shirt. She was already fully dressed and ready for the day.

"Sounds like what we found last time."

I looked back one last time to see them all standing around the body. Sergeant Wambach was peeking under the sheet, like she didn't already know what was under there. 

"I don't trust them." I mumbled. 

"It shows," Heather said. "You gotta be more discreet."

"Our lives are at stake," I pointed out. 

Heather held up her hands, "I just meant you gotta be less obvious about it."

That gave me an idea. 

"Oh no, you got that look on your face," Heather frowned. 

"Well, if they're not going to investigate properly then there is no reason why I can't do some digging of my own."

Heather leaned in closer, "What do you have in mind?"

I smiled. I half expected her to berate me. 

"A little breaking and entering. I'll have to wait until Carli is out of her condo and I'll break in and poke around. I kind of want to see her broadcasting equipment." 

"You'll be needing someone to watch your back."

"I assume you mean you?" I raised a brow. 

"Yup, but we're not doing this rushed. We gotta plan it out properly."

"Naturally." I said as I pushed open the clubhouse door. 

People were already sitting down with their breakfast. A lot of people were still in their pyjamas, not caring if anyone saw their ancient, holey sweats. I guess they got a pass today because of the shitty morning we've had so far. 

Alex came up to me, "Did you see who it was?"

I shook my head. "It was really hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure it was a woman."

"Someone will report a missing person soon," Heather sucked in a breath. "Then we'll have that to deal with."

"Does anyone live alone?" I asked.

"I don't think so. Most people came in with groups so they stuck together and Carli likes to keep it so that no one is left out, so she assigns roommates if you don't have one." Alex answered. 

"Except for her and her goonies I bet." I muttered.

Heather shot me a look again and I clamped my mouth shut. Meghan looked at me and nodded. She must have picked up on my accusatory tone.

People were giving Meghan and us by proxy, the stink eye as we walked to the serving line.

"How about we take our food back to the condo?" Alex asked and we all agreed.

Turns out Tobin and Ali had already gotten their breakfast and were waiting for us back at their place.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Tobin asked me exasperated.

"What did Ali tell you?" I didn't want to step on her toes.

"She said there was an accident."

"She's right."

"You're not going to tell me either?" She looked hurt.

"Because I don't know what happened either," I shrugged which was partial truth.

She made a disapproving sound and crossed her arms.

"Do I still have to take Rylie to school?"

"Of course," Ali interjected even though she was asking me 

Someone pushed open the front door, almost causing me to fall off my stool in surprise. I wasn't expecting anyone else to come barrelling through. Alex stood up from the couch. 

"Misha, what's wrong?" Alex asked the sobbing girl. 

The girl looked about twelve and was crying, her face puffy and red.

Tobin leaned over to me, "She's in Rylie's class. The one me and Alex take."

"It's Ms.Reina, she's dead."

At least they had identified the body already. Alex wrapped the girl in a hug. 

"It's going to be okay."

"Reina was the other teacher, with me and Alex." Tobin filled in the blanks. 

That was another link that could very loosely be traced back to Meghan. She was close friends with Alex, and Alex happened to work with the victim. This wasn't looking so good for her. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think of this story. I don't get much feedback anymore


	67. Identified

After Alex had ushered the crying Misha out and back to the condo she was staying in, Christie and Rylie walked in. Rylie ran over to Tobin. 

"Was that Misha?" She asked. 

Tobin nodded. "Apparently Ms. Reina is dead," 

Rylie's mouth hung open, way to sugarcoat it Tobin. 

"Who's Ms. Reina?" Christie asked, eyeing the two mini-gossipers. 

"One of the teachers." I answered. 

We shared a look, both knowing it must have been the mutilated body in the street. 

"It all clear out there?" Ali asked. 

Christie nodded, "looks like they moved everything to the clinic and hosed down the street."

I walked over to Heather out of range of the younger ears. 

"Was there a funeral for the last woman?" I asked.

"Just a short one. They buried her on the edge of the cul-de-sac."

"How soon after was it?" I kept digging. 

"Pretty much the same evening the body was found."

"And that didn't strike you as odd?"

"Yes, it does. The quicker the body goes into the ground, the less chance for people to poke around." Heather said as she rubbed along her bruised jaw. 

Her face looked even sorer today, the purple bruising at full force. Her left eye was still swollen, but at least it wasn't shut all the way like yesterday. 

"They're probably going to do that again," I groused. "Which means less investigation time. I doubt they will do an autopsy."

"Don't really think they need an autopsy in this case, though." Heather pointed out. 

I just had a disturbing thought, "If she was attacked by an infected, wouldn't she have come back?"

Heather let my theory sink in. 

"Clare didn't turn either."

"So that rules out an infected attack, which leaves us to figure out who did this." I crossed my arms. 

Heather sighed, "Shouldn't I start calling you Nancy Drew?"

I grinned back, "Well I am blonde."

"So," Heather said awkwardly, "I noticed Ali didn't come home last night."

I froze. In the excitement of the morning, I had completely forgotten about that.

"Ah," was all I could say. 

"If she does anything you don't like, I want you to know you can come to me." Heather said, making us both feel awkward with this conversation.

I laughed, "You're worried about her doing something?"

Heather grinned, "Guess you're right. I should be having this conversation with her."

I shucked her in the arm.

"I'm offended." I joked. 

"Just be smart." Heather said in all seriousness. 

"No babies, got it." I nodded. 

Heather rolled her eyed. 

"Don't know why I said anything," Heather shook her head. "So there's something else I didn't mention before when you told us about the mercenaries; there was also a disappearance while we've been here. Apparently one of the guys up and vanished in the middle of the night. Carli said he decided to leave, but the guy he was staying with told us afterwards that Gerald wouldn't do that without saying something. He said Gerald left behind his favourite pair of hiking boots, which he would never do."

"Great, more shit to deal with. You think they're related?"  I asked.

I would be tight-lipped this time around about my supposed immunity. 

"Your conspiracy theory is starting to make more sense by the day."

"I'm glad you're on my side, but Ali's in pretty deep." I motioned towards Ali who was talking with Christie. 

"That's gonna be a problem." Heather admitted.

 

I felt like conspiracy theorists plotting over in a shadowy corner. But our lives were at stake so I didn't feel as crazy as I probably should have. You couldn't trust anyone in this new world it seems. My Gran used to say, "If something is too good be true, you better hold onto your wallet." Maybe that's where I got my trust issues from.

We dispersed and everyone went back to their regular routine. Christie and I headed back towards the clubhouse, the only ones without somewhere to be. 

"So we go from one problem to the next, hu?" Christie said. 

"I just can't catch a break."

"You think the mercenaries have their hand in this place too?"

I looked around like I was worried someone was listening in. 

"There's no way too tell yet, but after Heather told me about the missing guy, we can't rule them out. Can you do me a favour?"

"Of course."

"Please don't mention my scratches from the infected."

"I won't." Christie promised. "We don't need a repeat of the last time."

We both nodded grimly at that.

"I think I'm gonna do some snooping around in Carli's condo to see if I can find anything."

"You mind if I come with you? I want to see if she's in contact with the mercenaries."

"I thought you had the trucker radio from Hope?"

"I tried it already and got nothing." Christie sighed. 

The mercenaries were Christie's only lead in finding her other daughter. If she was still alive that is. 

"Are you going to try find her?" I hesitantly asked. 

Christie licked her lips. "I want to so bad, but I have Rylie to look after."

"I can help." I offered. 

"Thank you." Christie said, sincerity ringing in her voice. 

"But I should warn you that I have to go back to the apartments and get everyone." I admitted. 

"I figured. When do you think you will go?"

"I have to talk to Carli about it, but she's not my biggest fan right now, so I was thinking of bringing it up to Christen."

Christen seemed nice enough, and she was part of the inner circle. That made it sound like she was one of the cool kids in school. I laughed at the crazy comparison. 

"That where you're heading?" Christie asked, trying to ignore my outburst. 

After my last giggle I answered. "Yep. I figured she'd be at the clinic with the body and if not, I'm sure someone can pint me in the right direction."

"Mind if I tag along?"

"Sure, not like we have jobs yet."

Together we walked to the clinic and sure enough, Christen was sitting on one of the waiting room chairs.

"what brings you here?" She asked with that big grin as she stood up. 

"You actually." I answered. 

"I'm flattered, but you're with Ali, no?" She winked at me. 

I rolled my eyes, "I told the survivor group that I was with before Hargrove that I would come back for them once I found this place."

"You asking me for permission, you?" Christen gave me a smirk this time. 

"I guess?"

"How many?"

"About twenty now." Christie answered. "One's a registered nurse. They have lots of guns and ammo."

Christen seemed to think about it. 

"I'll give Carli a heads up, but bring them down." Christen said. 

"There's space here for all of them?" I asked. 

I had no idea how many condos were full versus empty. 

Christen nodded. "This here is a safe haven, can't be turning folks down."

"So then I'll head out tomorrow for them."

"You going by yourself?" Christen raised a brow at me. 

"I'm going too and I'm sure we can find a couple more." Christie piped in.

"Sounds like you got it under control," Christen said before she was waved into one of the rooms. 

Christie and I walked back outside already starting the plan. I was excited to see the others again. I'm sure everyone would love Pinoe; Becky not so much. I'd be willing to bet she'd get along with the Sergeant though. 

"You think we need another vehicle?" I asked. We wouldn't be able to fit that many in the Mazda.

"They had that big truck and an airport shuttle van back at the apartments, they can just use those." Christie answered. "But we should bring some gas with us to be safe."

"Alright, let's unload the car."

We got to work unloading the rest of our supplies, which we still hadn't done. I was dragging my feet because I liked the idea of being primed for a quick getaway. It felt like we were unloading the groceries from a crazy shopping trip.

"I didn't think we had that much," Christie commented as we placed the last of the bags on the island bar. 

"Better to be safe than hungry."

"I left the two full gas canisters in the trunk in case they need to fill up their vehicles."

"Are you going to be okay going back there?"

Christie considered my question, "I'll be fine. I just don't know how they're going to react."

"Well they knew I would come back for them once we found Hargrove, so they've had a while to mull it over."

They obviously had to realise that if I did come back and bring them to Hargrove, that Christie would be here as well. Unless they were hoping she would meet her end along the way. 

"Hey," Alex announced from the wide open front door. 

"Want to help us unload all of this stuff?" I motioned to the pile of stuff. 

"Seems fun, but I was wondering if I could talk to you alone?" Alex asked. 

"Sure, how about we head back out?"

As Alex and I left the condo, Christie shouted, "No, don't worry, I'll unpack the rest of this!"

I grinned as we rounded the house and plunked down on the lawn chairs in the backyard. It was a tiny lot squared off by a short, white fence. So it offered no privacy from your neighbours. Perfect. 

"So what's up?"

"Two things actually." Alex started. "First, Ali wasn't in the condo this morning." She shot me a scandalous look. 

I waved it off, "Old news already."

"I assume you two finally sealed the deal?" Alex had a big grin on her face. 

"I should have known this would be a gossip session." I sighed. 

"About damn time!"

"Although I'm not too happy that she's engrossed in this place already." I frowned. 

"well they do have a pretty good setup here." Alex argued. 

"I groaned. "Not you too."

Alex held up her hands, "I didn't say it was perfect. I'm pretty scared actually, considering the two murders now, which is kind of why i'm here."

"Do you know something?" I leaned in. 

Alex looked torn, like she didn't know if she should be saying what she was going to. 

"You know how they're trying to blame Meghan?"

I nodded. 

"She left the condo in the middle of the night last night for over an hour."

"Did she give an explanation?"

Alex shook her head "No, but she's always had sleeping issues. She used to toss around all night like you except she would get up and do something until she could fall asleep. She's left before in the middle of the night."

I tried to digest what she was implying. 

"Did she leave the night of the first murder?"

"I don't remember."

"Did she ever come back in different clothes?" I kept questioning. 

"It's always dark when she comes back so I never noticed."

Alex looked...scared. 

"Has she ever been violent towards you? or anyone?" I asked, my protective tone coming out. 

"Never."

I had to ask. 

"Do you think she did it?"

Alex took a deep breath and leaned back in the scratchy lawn chair. I got to really take a good look at her. She was always tall and toned, but she seemed to have a boney look now. Her dark hair was tied up hastily, with fly-away's sticking out all over. Alex usually liked to keep an uber clean-cut appearance, where I would just go with whatever was quickest. I was becoming concerned. 

"Do I think she's capable of doing it? Yes. do I think she actually did these two...no," Alex admitted. 

"Did you tell anyone else?"

"Nope."

"I wouldn't tell anyone besides me." When she nodded, I stared her down. "Is there something else you're not telling me?"

She looked shocked, "No."

"You'd tell me, right?"

She gave me a hurt look, "Of course, you and Tobin are my best friends. And you're one to talk, holding out on me about you and Ali."

"To be fair, it's not like we've had a chance to talk this morning," I pointed out. 

"Alright, I'll give you that." She slapped her hands down on the wooden arms of the chair. "Well I have to go help with the funeral arrangements for Reina. There's going to be a town gathering after in the clubhouse tonight to honour her."

"Is everyone going to be there?"

"Yeah, it should be like last time. There was food served, music and mingling to honour Clare. You have to come."

"I'll be there." I didn't mention that it wouldn't be for long; just enough to make an appearance and make it seem like I was there the whole time. It would be the perfect opportunity to poke around Carli's. 

We said our goodbyes and by the time I walked back into the condo, Christie had put everything away. Perfect timing. 

 


	68. Pick-lock

I'd decided to keep Alex's titbit about Meghan's tendency to wander in the night to myself. It was biased, I know, but I didn't want to think that we had brought the killer with us. 

 

For the rest of the day, Christie and I worked on planning our trip back to the apartments in Gretna and our spy mission. At the peak of the memorial tonight, we would sneak out and poke around Carli's condo. Christie made sure to have her tools ready to go at the front door. We couldn't just kick in Carli's front door; we didn't want them to know we had been in there. 

We found Heather later and filled her in. She said she would help with both, even volunteering to help us gather the people from the apartments. 

"I'll be driving though," Heather said. 

"Well it is your car after all," I shrugged. 

"I see there are some new dents and scratches on it."

I grinned sheepishly, "Kind of a hazard of the zombie apocalypse."

"We could always hit up a dealership and get a new fleet of cars," Christie suggested. 

"We'll have to keep that in mind." Heather agreed. 

 

Just before supper, everyone was called to the lot towards the back of the cul-de-sac where a freshly dug grave was waiting for Reina's body. A huge crowd had formed with Carli and an older gentleman standing beside the grave. Judging from the bible in the older man's hand, I assumed he was a priest or someone to do with the church. 

 

After about ten minutes, Wambach, Christen, Ali and Oscar came over carrying the body in a bare-bones coffin made of plywood. Using flat rope spread across the hole, they lowered the coffin down into the grave. It wasn't six feet deep, but the coffin lid was still above a foot lower than the lip of the grave. 

"We are here to honour the life of Reina; a teacher, a friend, a sister, a pillar of this community," Carli boomed over the hushed voices. "Benjamin will lead with a verse from the bible." 

The elderly man stepped forward and opened his red tome as he cleared his throat. 

"I will begin reading from Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gave way and the mountains fell into the heart of the sea."

At that point I started to tune him out. I wasn't one to draw comfort from religion. Instead I peered around at all those attending Reina's burial. Most people had their heads down while they listened to Ben recite from the bible. The children from her class were present, some visibly distraught; the adults around them trying to comfort them. I had no way of knowing if the adults were the kids' parents or if they were now adoptive guardians. 

 

Carli and her groupies stood by, their hands clamped in front of them. Ali had decided to join us after they had lowered the body, now standing beside Tobin with her hand on her shoulder. Wambach appeared stone cold as she listened to Ben, nothing on her face giving away what she was thinking. Christen and the surgeon both looked sullen as they stared at the coffin. Oscar wiped away a tear. He had it the worst; he was the one who had to look at the body up close and personal as the town's resident doctor and medical examiner. 

After Ben finished, Carli ushered everyone to the clubhouse where dinner and refreshments would be served in memory of Reina. It sounded almost like a party. The funeral procession took up the entire street like a morose parade, not one person must have been absent. 

 

The clubhouse smelt like hot food and the cooks hurried to the back of the building to the dinner they must have been working on before the funeral. As soon as everyone was inside, the music was played so that you could just hear it over the voices. They wouldn't dare turn it up to rock concert levels. 

Once we had our food, we sat down at one of the last empty tables. I ate slowly, buying time and making sure I was seen. I made sure to make eye contact with Carli as she passed by. Heather waved to add to the illusion. Once the party got in full swing, Heather would slip out first then Christie and I a bit later. Heather then would scope out the condo and area making sure there was no one inside or around that would catch us. 

After an hour, Heather gave me the signal. I nodded slightly to let her know I saw. Heather walked out the front doors, smiling politely at people as she passed; even stopping once to strike up a conversation. She was pretty good at being inconspicuous. 

Next to leave was Christie. She walked over to Rylie who barely paid her any attention as she was currently playing with the older kids and told her that she was just going back to the condo for a bit. She nodded absently and shooed her away. Most likely she wouldn't even notice her absence. Ten minutes after she left, I told Alex that I was having stomach issues and said I was going to use the bathroom back at my condo. 

She told me to take some Pepto and I was in the clear. Just before I could make it to the door, I was stopped by Carli. For a brief second I feared that our plan had been foiled.

"Where are you taking off to?" She asked, her tone friendly but firm. 

I placed a hand on my stomach, "It's kind of embarrassing, but I need to use the washroom."

"Why not the one here?"

"I'd rather this bathroom trip be in the privacy of my own washroom, if you catch my drift," I said, faking embarrassment. 

She nodded, "I'm sure Oscar can grab you some medicine after."

"We have some Pepto back at the condo I was planning on taking."

"Well, I hope it helps so you can hurry back. Do you think you'll still be able to make your trip tomorrow?" Carli asked. Christen must have already filled her in. 

"I think so, It's not the flu or anything."

"I hope your trip goes smoothly." I guess she wouldn't be seeing us off in the morning then. 

 

With that, she turned to another person who had grabbed her attention. Looks like I'd have to come back and make sure Carli saw me. I hurried out the door, the fresh air slapping me in the face. The clubhouse had been stifling with all the accumulated bodies inside and heated food.

 

Walking at a faster rate than average pace, I went to meet Christie at the condo. The sun was almost done its nightly descent, casting shadows all over the road. It would have been better had the sun been completely down, but we only had a small window to do this. 

"Finally!" Christie exclaimed as I opened the door. 

She had been in the middle of pacing. 

"Sorry, had to make up an excuse when Carli stopped me."

"Think we should continue with this plan?"

"If you want out, you can stay here." I said. 

"No way. Besides you need someone to get you inside," She lifted the screwdriver in her hand. 

"Alright then, let's go."

 

Together we took the long way around to Carli's condo to avoid being seen. We dashed into her little backyard where Heather was crouched waiting for us.

"Bout damn time." Heather said quietly. 

"Anyways," I ignored her comment, "Is it all clear inside?"

"There's no movement or light inside and no one's come or gone since I've been waiting here."

Christie went up to the bedroom window and jimmied the window latch with the screwdriver. After a few tries she was able to slide the window open and pop out the screen. Once again I was glad I had lost weight, i would make it easier to fit through the window. 

"I'll give you a boost," Heather said dropping to one knee and clasping her hands together on top. 

I stepped on Heather's hands and scrambled inside as she raised me up, knocking over a lamp during my entrance. I managed to dive and catch it just before it smashed on the ground. Christie came through as I was putting the lamp back, hopefully in the exact same spot. 

Heather stuck her head through the window, "I'll make a roaster caw if anyone approaches the house."

I nodded as Christie handed me a flashlight from the tool bag she brought. I shot the beam across the room. Carli's bedroom was bigger than the one's in our condos. We rooted through her closet and dresser drawers coming up empty handed. I headed out into the hallway, spotting the door to the other bedroom. Christie tried the handle to the other bedroom but it was locked. 

She put down her tool bag and positioned the screwdriver at the apex where the door met the frame by the handle. With a stiff smash of her hand like she was working a chisel, the door swung open. 

"You got to teach me how to do that." I whispered. 

The door was unscathed, but now open. We flashed the beams inside revealing a smaller bedroom filled with junk. There was a desk covered in radio equipment along with shelves after shelves of electrical odds and ends. It looked like the room of a crazy man trying to contact aliens.

"I think we've hit the jackpot." Christie whistled. 

We examined the gear on the desk. It all seemed to be in working order, two large black radios and a mic dominated the middle of the desk. Christie pointed to a silver box. 

"This piece is a range extender for frequencies. This thing could help pick up broadcasts and send them out for miles."

"Can you turn it all on?"

Christie looked at me, "You sure that's a good idea?"

"We're here, might as well."

Christie examined the setup a bit more, explaining that Carli even had a Chekhov's radio that was police or military issued. 

"That's great, but how do you turn this stuff on?" I prodded her along. 

She flipped a silver toggle switch and the room was suddenly filled with the hiss of an empty radio frequency. Christie quickly turned a dial and the volume dropped. She turned another set of dials, scanning to see if we could pick up anything. While she was doing that, I thumbed through the scribbler on the desk. 

There was various speeches written in neat scrawl. These looked like the announcements that Carli made about Hargrove. I came across a page with a bunch of numbers, but that's not what caught my eye. The hand with the eye drawing did. 

"Christie!" I grabbed her arm. 

"The symbol." Christie leaned over the scribbler, shoving me out of the way.

"What are all those numbers?" I asked, pointing at the page.

"I could be wrong, but I think those numbers are RFID tags."

"Think these are for the mercenaries?" 

"Only one way to find out."

Christie started to fiddle with the equipment gears, turning dials and mashing buttons. She picked up the mouthpiece and hit the button. The hissing cut out. 

"Hello" Christie said into the thing that looked like an old timely microphone. 

She released the button and the hissing resumed. We waited for a good five minutes before Christie tried it again. 

"Hello," she repeated. 

No reply. 

"Can anyone hear me?" Christie asked. 

We waited again, barely breathing as if we could miss the reply. When none came, I turned to Christie. 

"Probably for the best. We don't want Carli knowing we were using her equipment.

Christie's shoulders slumped. This was her only way of finding out where they took her daughter. 

"Just give me a few more minutes." Christie asked, her voice barely a whisper. 

I sighed and decided to look around the room some more while Christie chased a ghost. I scanned the shelves, most of them filled with old equipment. Her personal appearance was always so neat and fresh-pressed, but this room was the exact opposite of her persona. The closet barely opened it was so full of random junk. I shoved clear some debris revealing a medium sized chest at the bottom.

My hands flew to open it only to be stopped by a brass padlock. Dammit. Chances are Carli had the key to it on her person. 

"Christie, you know how to pick a padlock?"

She put down the microphone piece and shuffled over to me with her tool bag. Christie kneeled down and examined the lock, turning it this way and that. 

"I think I might be able to."

She pulled out a couple of small metal tools, one looking like tweezers and the other like a dentist pick. Placing one tool in the centre and the other at the top of the keyhole, Christie tried to turn the lock. It took her a few seconds but the lock clicked and popped open. 

"were you a criminal before all this?" I asked, slightly impressed which gained a laugh from Christie.

 

She removed the lock and opened the top, pointing her flashlight inside. An old Afghan covered the top, so I ripped it to the side. Underneath, there was bloody clothes tossed haphazardly like an incriminating laundry basket. That explained the sour smell that wafted out once the top had been opened.

"You have gloves in that tool bag?" I asked. 

"No, but I got tongs."

That seemed like a weird thing to have in a tool bag. She passed me them and I fished around. The clothes were clearly female. I lifted a bloody ripped shirt to reveal a sharp, slightly curved-tipped knife. Heather once explained the difference between certain knifes to me, this one looking like the kind that was used to gut a fish. 

"That's dried blood on there too."

Christie and I shared a look. We had just stumbled upon something incriminating. Either Carli was the killer or she was hiding the evidence. I jumped, losing my grip on the clothing when the radio crackled, catching us both off guard. 

"Hello?"

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone that regularly read my updates i's so sorry I've been gone for so long, i hope you're all still around. I have no plans to abandon this story, sometimes things just come up and you have to prioritise things.   
> I'm baaaaack & no characters are safe.


	69. Home Sweet Home

Both Christie and I froze in our crouched position. 

"Hello? Carli, that you?" the radio asked.

Before I could grab her arm, Christie ran to the radio. She scooped up the receiver and hit the button. 

"Yes, we're here. Hello?"

"Carli? That doesn't sound like you"

I knocked the microphone out of Christie's grip like I was swatting an insolent child's hand. 

"Christie! Now Carli's going to know," I hissed as I flicked the toggle switch to off. 

All the equipment went dead.

"How else am I going to find my daughter?"

"With these ID numbers," I pointed to the scribbler. 

Carefully, I ripped out a blank page and copied down all the numbers. 

"Hope's trucker radio is only going to pick up the frequencies at a closer range," Christie said. 

"Bring it tomorrow and try it when we're back on the road. Maybe we'll be able to narrow down the location. Or we can try to find one of those extender things," I suggested

Christie stared at Carli's equipment wistfully. 

"Alright."

 

I was glad she could see reason this time. Last time she let her emotions get the better of her, she killed our only lead. I passed her my copied sheet and she shoved it in her pocket. 

"We need to make this look like we were never here," I said. 

Christie nodded and got to work turning all the dials back to their original positions while I went back to the closet to pack up the trunk of horrors. After, we took a few steps back and examined the place. In my eyes, it looked like everything was where it was when we entered, so we re-locked the door and went back out the window. Christie put the screen back in place and closed he window.

"Find anything?" Heather asked.

"Oh yeah, but we need to head back to the memorial." I said.

"I'll meet you guys there. I gotta put away my tools first," Christie said as she held up the bag.

We all split up. Heather and I entered back together, instantly being bombarded by Alex.

"You feeling better?" she asked. 

"A bit. How long do you think this will go?"

"Just about another hour I'd say." Heather answered. 

I stifled a groan; that would be considered rude at a memorial. Heather gently ushered me to an empty table.

"So what did you find?"

"We think we found the frequency for the mercenaries." I whispered. "And I found a trunk full of bloody female clothes and a knife that had been used."

Heather sat back in her chair. She rubbed her hand along her jaw, and then winced when she hit a bruise. 

"You think Carli did it?"

"I have no idea. It's either that or she's hiding the evidence for one of her cronies," I sighed. 

I had no proof, just some circumstantial evidence. Either way, this place wasn't safe.

"We still heading out tomorrow for that other group?"

"Yup." 

 

Although I wasn't sure I should bring them into this place knowing full well there was a killer on the loose. Maybe once we got them, we could all form a new safe haven somewhere. But where would we go? And I'd have a hell of a time trying to convince Ali to leave. Hargrove was already setup and working, minus the murders of course. 

Clearly Carli was crooked along with her crew; they needed to go. Why were the others in the town not outraged and suspicious of Carli? Were they that afraid of outside these walls that they would put up with a murderer and corrupt leadership?

 

"What do you think we should do with this information?" I asked Heather. 

"There's no police to go running to, so I say don't do anything rash. We need more proof first."

"Aside from catching whoever it is in the act, how are we going to do that?"

"Killers tend to keep going until they're caught. Chances are, they'll be doing it again."

"And this helps us how?" I asked, very concerned with Heather's point. 

"We can form some kind of watch."

"That's going to be hard with just the few of us. Plus, what if someone from Hargrove sees us?"

Heather readjusted her hat, "I honestly don't know what to do, Ash. Other than leaving this place."

It was a tough call, but I think that was our only option. The question was, would they let us leave?

 

The memorial wound down and we all headed back to our condos with the promise that a nightly street patrol would start tonight. Christie made sure to ask Alex to watch over Rylie tomorrow while we were gone.

"Get some sleep, It's going to be a long day tomorrow," Christie said as we each retired to our bedrooms. 

 

I tried to fall asleep, but ended up tossing and turning for most of the night. Nowhere was safe. Maybe I should just pack up a car and try to head back home. It would be a long journey, but worth it if I got to see my family again. What if they were gone? What would I do with myself then? What about my new "Family"? I was floundering again. 

 

My eyes had a hard time opening when morning came. Christie had to knock on my door to wake me up. 

"I made some instant coffee," She yelled through the door. 

My body begged me to roll over and get back back to sleep, but grudgingly I got myself out from under the covers. After a quick shower and two cups of coffee, our group were standing around the Mazda. Christie had packed food and the trucker radio and I made her bring my old handgun. Heather had borrowed an assault rifle and extra ammo for our trip. I made sure my Beretta was fully loaded along with the extra magazine, and that I had my trusty axe in the back. Christie was hugging her daughter goodbye, clearly reluctant to leave her. 

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" Ali asked.

Heather was currently holding our old map, "We should be back by the end of the day."

"You sure you don't need an extra body?" Meghan asked again. 

"No, three will be enough." Heather said. "We need all the room we can get."

"Christie did say they have a big truck and an airport shuffle van for transport," I mentioned. 

"They did when you left them, who knows now."

"Then what's the difference of one person? I can go instead of Christie." Meghan hefted her thumb at the sad goodbye scene. 

"Christie needs to go." I blurted out. 

"Why?" Meghan asked suspiciously. 

"I know the way," Christie said before I could further insert my foot into my mouth. 

Meghan huffed, but didn't press it any further. She knew how directionally challenged I was.

"Alright, daylight is burning folks, let's go." Heather held her hands out for the keys. 

 

For the first time in over a week, I sat in the passenger seat. Christie piled into the back and we drove to the front gate. The others followed to wave us off as the havy iron gate opened wide for us. I looked in the side mirror to see the faces of our friends fade behind the gate as it closed with us on the outside. Heather didn't need any directions read to her to get her out of the City. She knew where Gretna was from memory and studying the map before we left. It was nice to sit back and leave it up to someone else. It was almost a relaxing drive until we hit our first patch of infected. Heather climbed the sidewalk to avoid them, the Mazda's suspension groaning. 

"You think that's wise?" I asked. 

"Why do you think I picked this car? It can handle quite a bit." Heather scoffed.

I shut up after that. Like hell I was going to be the back seat driver in this scenario. We didn't head back to Heather's shop because technically that would be backtracking. Heather knew a quicker way to head directly south out of the city. According to Heather, some people had cleared a lane along one of the main bridges over the Mississippi River, so that's where we were heading. 

"How do you know?" Christie asked.

"Abby-," I noticed Heather said her name in a clipped voice now, "- mentioned that another group she knew of cleared it about a month after everything went to hell. She claimed to have used it before."

"So she wasn't always with Hargrove then?" I mused out loud. 

"I don't think so," Heather guessed. 

Maybe that other group Abby mentioned happened to be the mercenaries. We continues playing chicken with all the infected. I had to hand it to Heather; she knew how to maneuver this car pretty well. It wasn't until we got to the bridge that we had to stop. 

Heather had been right about on of the lanes being cleared of cars, but now there was a lane full of infected. She pulled out her bag from the back handing me a black tube. 

"Here' a suppressor that will fit the Beretta."

"It doesn't match the colour," I joked and Heather gave me a look telling me now wasn't the time for jokes. I felt like she gave me that look a lot. 

"You and Christie need to take them out before I can get through." Heather commanded. 

"I'll take the axe." Christie said. 

We got out of the car, facing down the long road filled with shambling bodies. 

"Well, you ready?" I asked Christie. 

"No." She deadpanned. 

"Too bad." I raised my gun and shot the nearest infected. 

The body twirled to the side and fell over the railing landing in the water with a splash. This grabbed the attention of the others. I started walking with my Beretta at eye levek, my sights landing on the various targets. One infected popped out from the spot between two cars in the lane beside us. Christie whirled the axe towards it, chopping at the infected like it was a tree.

The thing gurgled as Christie knocked it to the ground, hitting the hood of one of the cars in the process. Now the rest moved towards us even faster.  _Thanks a lot Christie._ she raised the axe again and split the infected's head open like a watermelon. 

We kept moving towards the group, Heather right behind us in the car. Seems like she had the easy job. Once they were in range, I shot the infected although I missed a few times, hitting shoulders instead of heads. As we walked on, we kicked the dead bodies to the side to allow the car to pass through unimpeded. 

I jumped in fright as one of the infected I kicked wasn't quite dead. Its hand groped at my legs and I flew backwards right into Christie.  

"What the-?" Christie said as we stumbled back. 

I pointed to the squirming infected stuck under the fallen body of one of its friends. Christie raised the axe and caved it's skull in. Another infected took our distraction as a perfect time to jump out from behind a delivery van.  whirled around with my gun and shot, the bullet going way off course. I heard the distinct whistling of air being released out of a tire and watched the van sink on its back, left tire. This distracted the infected long enough for me to try again. 

ITs brains splattered all over the logo painted on the side of the van when I actually hit it this time. The smiling photo of a family peeked out from underneath the carnage and I felt a pang of guilt for some reason. 

 

It took a while, but we were finally able to get to the other side of the bridge. I had to reload my Beretta once about halfway through with the extra clip. 

"You use up all your ammo?" Heather asked as we got in the car. 

"About a magazine and a half." I said. 

"Christie, can you pass her my bag?" Heather asked. 

Christie handed me the heavy duffel bag and rummaged around for extra 9mm bullets. If Heather was offering, I'd rather use Hargrove's supply than my own. I loaded up the Beretta while Heather swerved around a group of loitering infected. They reminded me of a group of teens hanging outside a 7-Eleven trying to bum cigarettes off of the people going in.

we finally hit the turnoff for Gretna. 

"There should be a guard or two here," Christie muttered as we passed through unimpeded. 

No one popped out like my last visit. 

"Maybe they decided to stop doing that," I offered, but I knew something was up. 

"Stay alert." Heather said, her eyes narrowing. 

 

I wanted to ask if she meant to say stay frosty, but I didn't want to be told, "Now's not the time." again. Christie pressed herself against the window, peering out at the small town as we passed familiar scenery. I could see the top of the rundown apartment building a block away. 

"That's the place." I pointed out the windshield. 

Heather ook a right and we found ourselves on the street in front of the building. I could tell from our spot that the glass front door had been smashed in. Heather and I shared a look. Christie got out in a rush, almost forgetting the axe. 

"This isn't gonna be good." Heather said in a low voice. 

She got her assault rifle ready before exiting the car. I gulped and followed them out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so basically, I feel like people aren't too bothered about this story that's why it's taking me so long to update it, when I previously updated it every couple of days. It's hard to spend so much time doing something when people aren't really reading it. So please leave me some comments, let me know if you're still reading it, if you're enjoying it, if you hate it, all that fun stuff. That way I know if I should go back to more regular updates, keep it how it is, or ditch the story completely.   
> Thanks guys!


	70. Massacre

Christie rushed into the building like an idiot.

"Christie!" Heather yelled, following quickly behind her. 

The glass from the broken door crunched under our feet as we ducked under the metal bar of the door. There was no one in the entrance, alive or otherwise. I heard Christie gasp and ran down the hall to the rec-room. 

"Ash, maybe you should stay there," Heather instructed, holding her arm out. 

I pushed her arm away and turned the corner. Blood, copious amounts of it, was the first thing I seen. Blood was sprayed all over the walls like an unfinished morbid mural. The source; the fallen bodies sprawled around the room. But there was no ragged infected among the bodies.

"This was done by people," Heather muttered as she kneeled down to look at one of the fallen elderly ladies. "They've either been shot in the head or butchered with what looks like machetes judging from the wounds."

"Holy shit," was my reply.

 

The image of the family I found back at the hardware store when I was with Tobin came to mind. Gore and carnage not at the hands of the infected. In a roundabout way, the infected were to blame. If they hadn't taken over, this probably wouldn't have happened. But more concerning, was thinking about who was directly to blame for this. Was this the work of the mercenaries? Why would they have come back? To avenge Hope?

 

There was a thud from the floor above us and Christie took off up the stairs. We rushed right behind her, Heather yelling at Christie to slow down. The hallway on the second floor was empty except for the body lying in the doorway of one of the apartments. The thud sounded again, louder this time, from one of the rooms at the end of the hall. Before Christie could sprint away, Heather latched onto Christie's shoulder.

"Listen, we don't know what's in there. For all we know, whoever did this, could still be in there. Calm down." Heather demanded 

Christie shook off Heather's grasp, but didn't immediately take off. Carefully, we made our way to the closed door with our weapons raised. 

"Christie, you open the door and get outta the way. I'll stand in front with my rifle ready to go." Heather instructed. 

Christie nodded and put her back flush against the wall beside the door. she reached for the knob and quickly shoved the door open. Heather took a step towards the entrance. Nothing flew out of the room; no bullets sailed through the air. But banging started from inside the apartment. 

Heather jerked her head, motioning for me to follow. She entered the room, checking all the corners for movement. I felt like we were a SWAT team sweeping a drug den. I could hear the noise coming from behind one of the bedroom doors. 

Heather shoved open the door and backed up, only to have the door slammed shut again. 

"There must be an infected in there," Heather said as she readied her gun to shoot.

"Wait! What if it's not an infected? Just some scared person?" I asked. 

Heather clearly didn't think that was the case, but she listened anyways. 

"If anyone is in there, identify yourself," Heather yelled. 

All we got for an answer was harder rattling against the inside of the door. 

"I don't think the thing in there is alive," Heather said. "I'm gonna open it and hold the infected between the door and wall. You go in and shoot it."

I nodded just as she placed her hand back on the knob and burst through the door. I ran in right behind her and went a few feet into the room. The light was dull and only coming from the window, but I could see the infected squished behind the door, it's grabbing hands swinging for me. Its teeth ground together as it struggled to free itself from Heather's trap. I raised my Beretta and shot it in the forehead.

"Come on" Heather said. 

I rushed back out, catching a glimpse of the bloody bed sheets before Heather let the door slide shut from the fallen body. 

"Looks like they missed the brain with her," I said. 

"Where'd Christie go?" Heather asked as she stepped out into the hallway. 

"God dammit," I hissed. "She probably went to check the other floors."

We ran up the rest of the stairs to find Christie coming out of one of the top floor rooms. 

"They're all dead." She said to no one in particular. 

Neither Heather nor I knew what to say to that. 

"Did you see Becky or Pinoe?" I asked. 

Christie just shook her head. 

I ran back down the stairs to the apartment Pinoe used as her kitchen. the fridge door was wide open and all the cupboards had been cleaned out. A drawer full of cutlery was tossed all over the cheap linoleum floor, a bloody butcher knife among the mix. But Pinoe wasn't in here nor was there a body. I backed out and ran down to Becky's office. Heather met me at the door. 

"What did I say about running off?" Heather said angrily. "Who knows who could be in there."

"You find Pinoe?" Christie asked. 

I shook my head. "No, there's just a mess in her kitchen, but no body."

I gently pushed open the medical office and found it ransacked. All the shelves had been picked clean, even the ambulance stretcher was gone. I spotted a pair of white running shoes sticking out from behind the desk. Slowly, I approached the metal desk. Becky was lying face down behind it, a massive bloody crater adorning the back of her head. 

"Looks like a shotgun wound." Heather said. 

I lowered my gun and took a deep breath. Seeing dead bodies was one thing, but seeing the dead body of a friend was... different somehow. It was like you realised your own mortality that much more if you knew that person. It hit closer to home. 

"What should we do with all the bodies?" Christie asked, kicking at the floor. 

"We don't have time to bury them all." Heather said. 

"We burn them." I said. 

"I dunno about that, Ash." Heather said hesitantly. 

"Well between the three of us, we can't bury them and we're sure as hell not just leaving them like this," I argued.

"They deserve to be put to rest." Christie added. 

I wasn't sure if burning the place was putting them to rest, but it was the best solution I could think of. I wouldn't want my body left to rot. 

Heather sighed, "Alright, but we gotta give the place one last sweep to make sure there's no one alive in here before we set fire to the building."

None of us wanted to tour the horrific sights again, but we couldn't just assume everyone was dead. For all we knew, someone was hiding out in a closet or something. 

"Any way to tell when this happened?" I asked. 

We had only been gone less than five days. 

"The smell aint that bad, and the bodies aren't that decayed. I'd say it happened somewhere between twelve and five hours ago." Heather said. 

"If we had stayed, maybe we could have done something." Christie muttered. 

"Or you'd be lying tight alongside the rest of them." Heather said bluntly. 

 

Christie's face scrunched up and I punched Heather in the arm. It was rough on me to see everyone massacred, but Christie had been with them for a long time before they voted her off the island. This had to be ten times harder on her. 

We hurried through the apartment building one last time. Our search was fruitless, not one person was left alive. Some people had even been shot in their beds, while others were crouched in closets shot while trying to hide. Whoever did this swept the entire building, purposely looking to kill. This wasn't a raid for supplies, it was a massacre. the sight of one of the elderly ladies wrapped around one of the young kids huddled in the bathtub, both shot dead, was something that wouldn't be leaving me any time soon. 

Back down stairs we re-grouped, all with the same morose expression. 

"Alright, let's get one of the gas canisters," Heather said. 

"Will one be enough?" I asked as we exited back through the busted door. 

I wasn't surprised to see the arsenal that was normally locked up by the entrance, empty. With a lighter and gas can in hand, Heather went back inside leaving us with the instruction to stand by the car. 

Christie and I stood in silence absorbing all the things we had seem, until she finally spoke up. 

"So you never spotted Pinoe?" 

"No."

"Maybe she got away."

"I hope so."

"You think the mercenaries did this?"

"I have no idea, But if it was, why would they have come back?"

Christie shrugged, "Maybe they were here for me."

I turned to look at her, "Why would you say that?"

"I killed Hope."

"They wouldn't know that unless there was another mole to tell them." I pointed out. 

"Well, why else would someone do this?" Christie asked, her voice pained. 

It was human nature to rationalise actions. That was the basis of Psychology; why people did the things they do. But sometimes there wasn't an answer and my guess is that we would never get one. 

Heather came running out, flames already starting behind her.

"We just need to make sure it catches, and then we need to take off." She huffed, out of breath. 

"You want to fire up that trucker's radio while we wait?" I asked Christie. "Hope was able to reach them from here."

Christie shoved herself from the side of the car and dug into the open trunk. She placed the black box on the rooftop and flicked it on. It was already on the channel it needed to be on. 

Christie pressed the button, "Hello."

We waited for an answer. 

"Hello, can anyone read me?" Christie asked again. 

The radio crackled before a voice came through. 

"Who's this?"

All of us turned to look at the radio. 

"Who's this?" Christie countered. 

I don't have time for this shit.You looking for Shawn?" The radio asked. 

"I'm looking for my daughter you ass-hole, I know your group took her," Christie spat into the talk piece. 

"Way to go Liam Neeson," I glared. "You could have started with something less antagonising"

There was no immediate reply and I motioned to the box as if saying "See."

Harsh laughter echoed from the radio. "You don't know shit pal. Why don't you tell me where you're at and we can talk this through?"

Heather grabbed Christie's arm, "Don't you dare tell them where we are."

"I'm not stupid." Slowly, Christie brought the talking piece back to her mouth. "Why don't you tell me where you are? We got your ID digits working so you must be nearby."

We waited for a reply. There was no way we would just march into their lair. I did that once before at the police station and won't be doing it ever again. Heather gave me a pointed look. She must have been thinking the same thing. 

The eerie laughter returned. "Come and find me if you can." Then nothing. 

"Hello?" Christie tried again and again, but the guy had tuned out.

"Fuck!" Christie slammed down the radio talk piece and stepped away from the car. 

"You sure these are the guys who took your daughter?" Heather asked calmly. 

"Carli's scribbler had the same eye and hand symbol by the RFID tag as the ones who attacked the apartment," I answered for Christie who was fuming not-so-quietly. 

Heather sighed, "I admit that's pretty damn suspicious, but we can't just go storming their gate by ourselves."

"Carli's got to be in cahoots with them, so we won't be getting any help from Hargrove," I said. 

"I'll go myself then," Christie said through a stiff jaw.

I walked right up to her, "who will take care of Rylie when you die, and you will die. I'm sure as hell done with my babysitting days."

It was harsh and made me sound like an insensitive asshole, but Christie needed to hear it. 

"What would you do if it was Ali?" Christie countered. 

"Well we don't have the history of you and your daughter, but I'd want her back. I would just be smart about it," I said, although I couldn't be sure how I would react.

Spewing advice was easy, taking your own advice was hard. 

"How about we do some more recon? I happen to have some experience in that." Heather offered. 

Christie crossed and uncrossed her arms, "You'd help me?" 

"Of course," Heather nodded, thebrim of her cowboy hat briefly covering her eyes. "Family is all we got. Blood or not." 

Heather wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I had to blink away the tears that her statement brought to my eyes. We were family now; always will be. 

 


	71. New Wheels

Christie stared out the back seat window as we drove back to Hargrove. The airport shuttle van that was supposed to be at the apartment was gone, so we were coming back completely empty handed, but with a heavier heart. If we had gotten here a day ago, we could have possibly prevented this. Or as Heather had said, been caught in the middle of it. 

She also said that her recon would have to wait since Christie's exchange no doubt put the mercenaries on edge. They'd be expecting an assault so we should lay low for a couple of days, then try to canvas the nearby Gretna area. Since Hope's radio was a close range one, the mercenaries broadcasting equipment had to be within a few miles of where we had the exchange. 

Suddenly the sound of screaming tires reached my ears.

"Holy shit!" Christie screamed from the back seat. 

I whipped around to see what was happening just as a bullet flew through the back windshield and embedded itself in the centre console, less than half a foot from my face. I slunk back into my seat, the fact that I just about had my head blown off rendering me in shock.

"Ash!" Heather yelled. 

I looked up at her and she let out a huge breath, her face relaxing. She didn't have much time to relax as more bullets were put though the back windshield. She veered off to the side, but we were trapped on the interstate, no turnoffs within sight. 

"Christie, you ok?" I yelled into the back.

"Yeah." She croaked. 

I looked out the side mirror to see a giant black SUV barrelling towards us, a man with a handgun leaning out of the passenger window. 

"Everyone keep your heads down!" Heather yelled. "Christie, pass that assault rifle up here."

Gingerly, so that she didn't lift any body parts within shooting range, Christie handed us the assault rifle. I grabbed the barrel and pulled it into my lap. More gunfire hit the car, the sound of metal on metal pinged in the back end of the car. 

Heather drove in a serpentine manor all over the highway. 

"Go faster!" Christie yelled. 

"We go any faster and they shoot out the tires, we'll roll and be squished to death," Heather shot back. "But I got an idea. Hold on."

I barely had time to grab the seat belt and assault rifle before Heather turned the car 180 degrees around so that we were now facing the SUV head on. 

"What the hell!?" Christie screamed from the backseat. 

Instead of answering, Heather floored it as if we were playing a high-stakes game of chicken. The SUV was forced to stop, their tires squealing and the back end sliding out. The guy who was shooting from the passenger seat was thrown forward from the window landing with a splat on the pavement. He didn't get up.

"Ash, now!" Heather commanded. 

I unrolled the window and pointed the muzzle of the assault rifle towards the side of the SUV. As we passed by, everything seemed to be in slow motion. The guy at the wheel was fumbling with something, but I hit the trigger before he could finish. A spurt of bullets sailed through the SUV's passenger side window, hitting the driver and shattering his window behind him. His body jerked with each hit until I let go of the trigger. 

I heard Heather's voice through the ringing in my ears. "The back seat!"

The SUV's back seat window had started to roll down. I twisted the rifle so that it was facing the back and let the rest of the bullets fly. The rifle clicked empty as the muzzle smoked like a lit cigarette.

I let out a shaky breath, not daring to move. All the SUV windows had been smashed in, holes adorning the paint. No one was moving inside now, but to be on the safe side, Heather drove a few meters away before stopping.

She looked straight out the front windshield which had a couple of bullet holes in the centre. "Anyone hit?"

"No." both Christie and I said at the same time.

Heather swallowed and turned to me. "You did good." 

I nodded dumbly, my brain still working out what had just happened. Heather took the empty rifle from me and reached into the back for her bag. She popped out and reloaded the magazine, before cracking her car door open. 

"I'm gonna make sure there ain't no one left to come after us. You two stay here," She commanded. 

When I didn't say anything, Heather took off back towards the SUV on foot. I twisted to watch her approach the vehicle with caution. She was crouched low, moving fast towards the back window. She peered up and then went around to the side, her assault rifle lifted and ready. There was no gunfire, so they must have all been dead or injured. 

Heather slipped around to the driver's side, out of our sight line. I would have gone with her except it felt like I had lost the use of my legs. I was shaking from the mix of adrenaline and fear. Drive by shootings were not a common thing where I was from. Christie seemed just as shaken up as I was. She was staring blankly out the fractured back windshield. 

Neither of us said a word as we waited for Heather to return. she hustled back into our view carrying an arm full of items. She dropped them with a thud on the roof and leaned into the driver's side. 

"Three dead including the one on the road,£ Heather said very military-like. 

I finally hit that serial killer badge I was working towards. If this was the old world, I'd be hunted by the police. I couldn't even muster an urge to laugh inappropriately; I just remained silent in the seat.

"Found this around the driver's neck." Heather held up a necklace, the pendant hanging at the bottom a familiar sight. It was the mercenaries' symbol. "They must have decided to come looking for us after our little conversation. I knew they must be nearby."

"How had they been that close to the apartment all along?" Christie asked from the backseat. 

"Dunno, but we need to get off the main road in case they send more." Heather tossed her finds into the back seat, a few more guns among them, and got back in. 

We drove in silence until the engine began to tick then proceeded to make a loud clunking noise. 

"Come on, don't do this." Heather spoke to the car. 

We had just made it to the bridge when the car gave one last sputter, like a last gasp of a dying man, and came to a rolling stop. 

"Shit."

Heather got out and I tried to follow. I felt like a newborn learning to walk for my first few steps. The adrenaline had dissipated, leaving behind stiff limbs. We finally got a good look at how much damage the car had taken, the body was littered with bullet holes. It was a miracle that none of us had been hit. 

 

I could feel latent panic wriggling at the back of my brain. We had just about been killed, that fact slowly sinking in as my mind digested the situation. I had stopped myself from freaking out when it happened and now my body needed to release it. But now wasn't the time either. Stupid Christie just had to antagonise them, drawing the mercenaries into action. If she hadn't done that, they probably never would have come after us. I found I was glaring at Christie. 

Obviously Christie leaned down, "They punctured the gas tank.Must have been a slow leak."

"Yeah, I figured when I noticed the gas meter was going down faster than before."

"You couldn't have said anything?" I asked. 

"There was no need to frighten you guys more, plus I was hoping that it would at least get us back to Hargrove," Heather said as she took off her hat and rubbed her head. It looked like she must have gotten a haircut recently. 

"How are we supposed to get back?"

"I was thinking about what Christie said earlier about hitting up a car lot. I'm sure we passed one just before the bridge on our way out." Heather said. 

I looked across the bridge we had cleared earlier. There were no new additions, but the city was crawling with infected. I didn't like our odds on foot. 

"How close would you say that car lot was?" Christie asked. 

"I'm hoping that it takes us an hour max to get there on foot," Heather said. 

 

We gathered only the weapons we needed; we'd come back for the rest once we had a ride. I stuffed my Beretta into my waistband and gathered my axe. Together we started across the bridge again and stuck to the side of the road. The sun was baring down and I was starting to feel it without the AC blasting away. 

The broken coloured banner of flags waved in the sparse wind, signalling that we had finally reached the used car lot after forty-five minutes of walking briskly. We had only run into a few infected that we easily dispatched. A pool of black plastic lay on the front lawn in front of the tiny office. I assumed it must have been one of those tacky blowup mascots that car dealerships used.

"Keep an eye out," Heather said as we entered the lot. 

Dusty vehicles were neatly parked in all the spaces. 

"I like this one." I pointed to a new model of an Audi coupe. 

"Don't matter, we take whatever one we can find the keys for," Heather said. 

Way to take the fun out of car shopping. We reached the front door, but it was locked. Heather raised her assault rifle and shot the glass. Once inside, we stalked from cubicle to cubicle looking for infected. 

"No one's here," I said. 

"Start looking through desk drawers for keys. Dealerships usually have tags with the vehicle description on them for easy identification," Heather said. 

We got to work rummaging through peoples desks. I was hoping to find the keys to that white Audi outside. 

"Got something!" Christie yelled over the top of cubicles. 

We walked over to her and she hit the unlock button. The chirp of a vehicle sounded from the parking lot. 

"Please be the Audi." I muttered. 

Once outside we followed the sound to the oldest car on the lot. It was an old Honda Civic. I laughed out loud. 

"What's so funny?" Heather raised a brow. 

"I have a Civic just like this at home, except mine is in much worse shape," I said, "Of all the vehicles we could take, it has to be the dumpy one like mine." I have the worst luck.

"Tough," Heather said as she tried the key. But the Honda engine didn't take on the first two tries.

"Pop the hood," Christie said. 

Once the hood was up, Christie got to work fixing it. Heather sat in the drivers seat turning the key in the ignition when Christie instructed her to. Sensing this would take a couple of minutes, I wandered back over to my dream car; the white Audi. I wish I could have afforded it back then, and now, ironically when it's free for the taking, I couldn't have it anyways. I peered in the side window taking in the white trimmed leather seats and console, practically drooling. 

The glint of the sun in the window was briefly blocked and I swung around to face an infected that had managed to sneak up on me. Using the axe, I shoved it away from me. It fell back and landed hard on the next vehicle, the shrill alarm deciding to go off. 

"Shit," I hissed. I pulled out the Beretta and shot the slumped infected. 

"Ash!" Heather's voice boomed over the siren. 

I ran to them, the Civic engine finally having turned over. 

"You just had to set off the alarm, didn't you?" Christie shook her head. 

"Hey, it caught me off guard," I defended myself. 

"We gotta leave now." Heather shut the driver's door and we got in. 

Even the interior looked like my old car,except for the lack of coffee stains. 

"How much gas in the tank?" Christie asked. 

"Enough to get us back to the Mazda and home," Heather said as she peeled out of the parking lot. 

 

 


	72. Long Road Home

We got back to the broken down Mazda easily enough, it was getting back to Hargrove that was proving difficult. The infected had decided to have a parade in the streets in honour of our return trip and it wasn't appreciated. 

"How much worse could this day get?" Christie muttered loud enough for me to hear her. 

"Have you never seen a horror movie? Never ask that," I said. Heather chose that moment to swerve around a couple of infected almost side-swiping a fire hydrant. 

We finally reached the gate to Hargrove only to be stopped by the guards peeking over the edge with their weapons. 

"Stop!" Someone demanded. 

Heather got out to show them her face. "It's us!"

The guard leaned down to say something and the gate began to open. Our newly acquired Civic must have thrown them off since they would have been expecting the Mazda to return. 

"Ash, we're gonna need your Beretta," Heather said. 

I got out and began to pick off our groupies that had followed us here. Heather had purposely taken a less direct route to Hargrove through the city to avoid this problem.  _Stupid infected._ I no longer needed two hands to hold the handgun steady, so I made sure I had the axe in my left hand in case some got too close. 

One by one, every infected I shot was transformed into one of the faceless mercenaries. They had killed my friends, they had tried to kidnap me, they had tried to kill me; I wanted them dead and I wanted to be the one to do it.  _Just like Riley._ My head shot up as the last thought echoed in my head. I was starting to scare myself again with all the anger and resentment.

"Ash, come on!" Heather's voice boomed behind me. 

I turned and followed the car inside the closing gate. Once the gate closed behind us, people started to crowd us. A brief moment of panic gripped me as my mind registered the encroaching people as a group of infected. 

"Where's your car?"

"What happened?"

"I thought you were bringing others back?"

We were hounded with questions, their voices mixing into one another all around me. I could feel my heart rate rising, my lungs struggling for breath. I fought the urge to scream and cry all at once. My limbs were ice cold, yet my body felt like it was boiling. 

"Move," I said in no more than a whisper. 

No one got out of the way, in fact, it seemed like they were closing in even more. I felt like an injured animal waiting for a predator to strike. 

"Move!" I screamed, my lungs still struggling for air. 

The voices stopped and I shoved my way through the crowd heading towards our condo. I needed to get away from everyone; from the noise and gazes. In a full sprint, I ran down the street and barrelled through our front door. Once inside I headed for my room,slamming the door behind me and falling onto the bed. 

The weight of the day had finally came crashing down on me like a collapsed shelf of books. One by one, every dead face, every dodged bullet, hit me. I hadn't allowed myself to show panic while we were out and now it had sent me into a panic attack. What was happening to me? I thought I could deal with anything, but this world kept knocking me down. Around every corner was some new horror to witness. We fought and clawed our way out only to find out we hadn't fought hard enough. 

I placed my hand over my heart. It was beating faster than if I had just run ten miles. My stomach was in knots and I found myself running for the bathroom as my gag reflexes started to kick in. I barely made it to the toilet before I heaved up the contents of my stomach. My eyes watered as I threw up for the last time. Using the bathtub as a brace, I sat down on the ragged bathmat and leaned against the cool, acrylic surface taking numerous deep breaths. 

A nasty, acid taste coated my tongue. As I sat there breathing through my nose, my heart rate started to return to normal. I hadn't had a panic attack since my first year at university. Tears silently ran down my face and I let them drip onto my shirt. When I heard the front door open, I finally wiped at my damp cheeks. I listened to the footsteps as they approached the bathroom door. In my state, I had forgotten to shut it.

Heather appeared, her face serious. 

"I know it's stupid to ask if you're ok, since you ain't, but are you ok?"

I looked down, not wanting to meet her eyes. The last person I wanted to think that I was weak, was Heather. 

"You know when I was in the military, we some some shit. Now I know everybody who comes back says that, but it doesn't make it any less true. Some people couldn't  handle what they saw and came back to the U.S. a mess of a person," Heather swallowed loudly. "I even dealt with some PTSD from the things I had to do. I tried booze and all it got me was an Ex-husband and lost years with my family. But I sobered up and took over the gun store with Whit, all thanks to an amazing lady."

I finally looked up at Heather. I had expected her speech to end where she thanked the Lord for her turn around, but I was proven wrong. 

"My therapist Ms Du Bois. She got me right in the head again and set me down the path I was supposed to be on. Not a day goes by where I'm ashamed for asking for help."

Heather let me digest her words in silence. 

"I don't think Hargrove has a therapist," I said finally. 

"You don't need someone with a fancy degree, just an ear and a desire to help." 

"Is that you?"

"Only if you want it to be."

I took a deep breath, "I don't know. I kind of need to sort through it all myself before I can sort through it with another person." 

Heather nodded, "Whenever you're ready."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now flush that toilet, please."

The corner of my lips upturned as I reached over and hit the leaver. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so not an action packed chapter that you all want, but an important chapter nonetheless. 
> 
> 2016 is nearly over, and it's been full of horrible events for everyone. Newspapers (where i'm from) have been littered with hate crimes, suicides and terrorist attacks. Hate crimes and Terrorist attacks may be out with our control, but suicides aren't. Reach out this Christmas, you never know what a 10 minute conversation could mean to someone else.
> 
> "Never underestimate your ability to make someone else's life better, even if you never know it."


	73. Chicken Coop

I spent the next couple of days being the recipient of curious stares. Everyone was wondering if I had lost my mind. Heather was patiently waiting for me to spill my guts, but I still wasn't ready. I was more than glad I had agreed to go with Meghan on her run, it would allow me to get away from being the towns resident loon. But due to my breakdown, as she called it, Meghan postponed the trip for an extra couple of days. 

"Are you listening, Ash?" Ali asked. 

I turned my head towards her, losing my train of thought. "You bet."

Ali didn't look convinced, but went on. "Can you keep an eye on Tobin today? I have to do some things for Carli, and you know how she is."

I didn't want to encourage Ali's attachment to this place, but it was more for Tobin than for her. 

"Sure, but doesn't she have apocalypse school or whatever you'd call it?"

"She's only teaching in the morning today."

"When's it over?"

"In like ten minutes."

I glared at her. "Way to cut it close."

Ali shrugged. "I figured you'd do it."

She gave me a brief hug and left my condo with a goodbye. All of our group members had been stopping by like they were checking on me. I tried to tell them that I was okay now, that I had my little outburst and was all good. But I don't think they really bought it. It was mostly the truth though. It was like every bad thing that happened to me had been building up to the point where I needed some kind of outlet. Unfortunately, my betraying body and brain made it into a public spectacle. I was still struggling with the rather high body count I had racked up, though. I don't know how people just get over that sort of thing. I suppose being a psychopath would help.

I stopped my wallowing and gave the kitchen island a clean, clearing off all the various items. The place definitely looked lived in now and as a bonus, I was able to tuck away most of the cat paraphernalia, except for the hideous couch. Honestly, the place was kind of a mess. I wasn't the cleaning type and neither was Christie. I don't know why I bothered, It's not like Tobin would care.

After my ten minute grace period, I left the condo and heading towards the building they were using as the school. Even before I opened the door, I could hear the screaming of children. Inside they were all in a flurry, chattering among themselves. There was paper everywhere. I spotted an exhausted looking Alex and made my way over to her. 

"Hey Ash, come to check in on Tobes?" Alex asked, a smear of blue marker on her face. 

"How'd you know?" I asked. 

She bit her lip, "Well, I don't need checked in on, and unless you're here to kidnap a kid..."

Fair point. 

"Ash! Hey!, check out this pirate hat a kid made for me." 

"What, no princess crown for you?" I asked, noticing that most girls had opted to make glitter-saturated paper crowns. 

Tobin scuffed. "Pirates are way cooler, come on."

"You got that right, guess you're stuck with me today, kid!"

"Cool, can we stay here for a bit more? I wanna make a Popsicle cabin."

I turned to Alex. "And she wonders why we call her kid, and have to babysit her everyday."

 

I sat and chatted with Alex while the kids and Tobin governed themselves for craft time. It was nice to catch up. We'd been drifting apart since the Cabin. It's strange how you can be so close proximity wise, but so far communication wise. I frowned, now I was making us sound like an old married couple. 

Finally, Tobin was ready to go. I had to carry her still soggy Popsicle cabin back. 

"No, we need to take it back to my place," She insisted, grabbing my forearm and dragging me towards it. 

Tobin looked at me after we had set down her crafts. "Let's go help with the chickens," 

Her fingers were stained with black marker from colouring the Cabin. 

"How about we get some late lunch first?" I suggested. 

From their condo, we headed to the clubhouse hoping to still catch late lunch being served. They were just starting to put away the food when we got our plates. I spotted Meghan who was currently eating by herself, so we headed over to bug her. 

"How's it hanging?" He asked. 

"Chilling with the kid today," I said. 

Tobin shot me a dark look. "I'm 28."

"Still a kid though," Meghan shrugged. 

Tobin turned her narrowed eyes on her while she was still shovelling food into her mouth. 

"What are you up to today? Need a hand with anything?" I asked, not really sure how to keep Tobin amused all day. 

When we were out on our own, my only concern was keeping her safe, not entertained. 

"going to help count and portion supplies, especially the chicken feed. We really need to grab some when we go on our run in a couple of days."

"Can we come with you to see the chickens?" Tobin asked, forgetting she was supposed to be mad. 

"Sure, but fair warning, it's not that exciting."

"I just wanna help gather the eggs." Tobin said. 

I noticed the lingering stares of people nearby. Meghan and I at the same table, it was like social suicide apparently. Meghan had said a few days ago that we were similar, I guess she was right. Now we both were regarded with a mix of curiosity and fear. 

 

This place really did feel high a high school cafeteria with all the gossiping. If Meghan noticed, she paid them no attention. I fought the urge to flip them all the bird, but that would be the last thing my dented reputation needed. 

We finished our food and followed Meghan to the stinky part of the block - the Chicken coop. As soon as we got there, Tobin ran to the lady tending to them, asking if she could help. The lady, Margret, explained how to get the eggs without scaring them and how to tell if the egg was still good or not. She had a bucket with shallow cold water to demonstrate that good eggs stayed on the bottom and the rotten ones floated to the top.

I left Tobin with Margret while Meghan and I went to the shed to count out the remaining feed. Judging from the minimal amount of sacks, it wasn't going to take us very long.

"Shit, we really will need to get some feed when we go," Meghan said as she rubbed her jaw. 

"Where would we even get that?" 

"Any kind of feed and seed store or even some pet stores carry it. I'll as Christen if she knows where we should go." 

Meghan estimated that the remaining feed would last about two weeks, if not more. According to second hand knowledge from Margret, chickens ate less when it was hot out. I was getting all sorts of information today. I felt like I was on an episode of the Magic School Bus. 

We stepped out of the shed just in time to see a chicken run by us, followed by Tobin and Margret. 

"Do they usually let them out of the coop?" I asked as the two whizzed past us. 

"Nope."

We watched Tobin dive and grab the chicken, but it managed to squeeze out of her grasp in a flurry of feathers. Next Margret approached it like it was a strange dog. She slowly moved towards it while the chicken stood still, striking like a Cobra when she got within range. Margret grabbed it in what can only be described as a headlock for Chickens and walked calmly back to the coop. 

Tobin followed her back, kicking at the grass. 

"I almost had it."

 

Meghan took off to help with the weekly food inventory count,while I decided to doze off in the sun watching Tobin play with the poor chickens. She was like a fox terrorising the Hen house, I'm surprised Margret allowed it. She seemed to enjoy having Tobin pepper her with questions. She reminded me of a Grandmother with her endless patience. 

"Oh Geez, we, uh, need to go, Ash." Tobin was  suddenly right beside me, trying to get me up. 

"What for?"

"Uh,I can't tell," She said, not meeting my eyes. 

Okay, now I was suspicious. I let her lead me back to my condo, the one she had avoided earlier. Tobin was practically bouncing and she kept looking back at me with a poorly hidden grin. I had an odd feeling I was about to be pranked. 

She opened the door and motioned for me to go in. The first thing I spotted was the lit candles in the island with two sets of plates out. Ali was smiling, wearing a clean, button down blouse and dark jeans. There were string lights all over the living room and a newly set up projector screen was pulled down. 

"so?" Tobin blurted out behind her. 

"You got me out of the place all day so you could set this up?" I asked quietly. 

"Well, you said we couldn't just go out for a movie and dinner, but I figured, why not? I could bring the dinner and movie to us." Ali said as she motioned to the food on the counter. "Thanks for getting her here Tobin, you're good to go."

With a giant grin, Tobin shut the door leaving us alone. 

"what about Christie and Rylie?" I asked as I walked to Ali. 

"I arranged a sleepover for them," Ali smirked. 

"So by proxy, you're sleeping over here then?" I smiled at her subtle hint. 

She gave me a shameless grin. "Well it is a date night. Have a seat."

"this was very sweet of you," I said as I sat down on one of the bar stools. 

"Meghan said it was corny."

"She's kind of right, but I like it all the same"

Ali leaned over, her hand cupping my cheek and gave me a lingering kiss. "It seemed like the right time." subtle way of saying that. 

"You cook all this?" I asked when she pulled away.

"Nah, I ain't much of a gourmet cook. The ladies at the clubhouse prepared it specially for us."

"How many people were in on this?" It was like a conspiracy. 

"Almost everyone, especially Alex. She made me promise to leave a couple of movies for you guys to watch later. I had to borrow the projector they had stored in the club house. Apparently, they used to have movie night for the seniors, so our selection isn't that impressive," Ali admitted. "Then I had to get a full battery to plug it all into since the power in these units only go to keeping the water running and warm."

"You know, it's a lot less romantic when you tell me all the details," I teased. 

Ali laughed. "That's a good point."

she served up our plate of fettuccine Alfredo with a side salad and even wine to go with it. It was really good; they must have used all the fancy stuff for this batch. They certainly cooked a lot of pasta here, but I suppose dried noodles were an easy find and had a long shelf life.

We started talking about Hargrove, but had to stop before a fight erupted. I still couldn't understand how she assimilated so fast and she didn't understand why I was so sceptical of the place. I pointed out the murders and she had no reply, other than, "Carli will deal with it."

"So, what kind of movie choices do we have tonight?" I asked, trying to change the subject. 

"It's kinda a mixed bag. They have Pocahontas - the Disney one, Ghost Busters two," I made a face at that, "Casablanca, and all the Lethal Weapons." 

I thought about it, "I'm kinda a sucker for Disney." Ali raised a brow. "Don't you dare tell anyone that." 

she lifted her hands in defeat "I swear. So Pocahontas it is."

We ate our last bites and cleaned up the plates before going to the living room. 

"Behold," Ali said right before she plugged in the string lights. The room filled with a dim glow, just enough to not be overbearing. It looked like a teenage girls' room, but I decided to keep that to myself. 

"Ohhhh," I said, trying to sound impressed. 

"Now for the hard part." Ali said as she started to tinker with the projector set up beside the couch. 

After a few minutes of trying to get it to work and muttering angrily at the old technology, finally the Disney intro started, the castle displaying on the screen. 

"Is there sound?"

"Just a minute." 

Some more tinkering, then blaring music. I had to cover my ears. Finally, when she got it to human level of decibels, we sat together on the couch, her arms draped over my shoulders. 

"I tried it out earlier and it didn't do that," Ali pouted. 

"Sure, sure." 

She squeezed me and kissed the side of my head. 

"But I'm doing pretty good so far, ain't I?"

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this is the last update until after Christmas, and possibly New Year.   
> Have a great Holiday folks!


	74. Back to College

By the time our scavenging trip rolled around, I felt ready to go. Some normality was just what I needed and Ali's date night really helped. That next morning, we were met with a set of grinning friends praying for details. Alex still hadn't let up, swooning over Ali's romantic set-up. It kind of felt like she was jealous, since she had nobody to do that for her. 

I looked out of the condo window to see a truck pull up. Meghan had gotten up early to pick up the massive truck for our scavenging trip before she came to get me. We would have enough weapons, food and ammo to last a couple of days in case we had to stay away for an extended time. All of our friends were crowded into the small living room for another round of farewells. 

Heather was pacing, nervous about letting me go out. She had another group of training to do. Even though she and Wambach had their little spat, they were still being adult about it and running the gun training together. Alex was playing with the silver necklace around her neck and Ali was practically pulling out her hair as she sat on the edge of the couch. She was lucky the old lady who had owned this condo didn't put plastic on the furniture, she would have slid straight off. Tobin had given me the matching pirate hat she made because she said we were like real pirates plundering treasure. I'm still convinced she's actually only 6 years old. 

Oddly enough I was quite relaxed. I had a few days to recover from my break down, of sorts, and was looking forward to putting it behind me. However, the ever-growing concern the mercenaries posed, was in the back of my mind. I couldn't just forget about what happened, I needed to stay alert and keep an eye out for signs of them on the road. 

"Well, my rides here." I opened the door and walked to the truck with my backpack over my shoulder. Everyone followed me out. 

Alex walked over to me and wrapped me in a big hug. She spoke quietly in my ear, "I know you've been having a rough time. When you come back we're going to have a night where it's just you, me, bad movies and tequila, okay?"

"Count me in." I grinned. 

The next bear hug came from Ali and a kiss. 

"You be safe, okay? We got date number two next."

I raised a brow at that. "Is it going to top a lovely dinner and movie night?"

"You'll see." Ali winked, finally releasing me from our hug. 

It felt like I was going away to war and everyone was giving me their last goodbye. When we had gone earlier in the week, our farewell hadn't gone like this. Maybe they were worried because of my little episode.

Heather was the last in line, giving me a tight hug. 

"When you get back, I expect a long talk; you hear?"

"I promise, but it might have to wait until after girl's night with Alex."

She placed my head in her hands and kissed my forehead in a very motherly way. 

"Be safe."

I tossed my backpack into the back seat and hefted myself into the passenger's side. The truck had a lift kit on it, making the jump in take more effort than most. 

"You ready?" Meghan asked. 

"As much as I can be."

So I left the gates to Hargrove for a second time in a week. We didn't say much as we started into the city, avoiding infected. 

"How far do you think we need to go?" I asked.

"Until we find a place that's less likely to have been raided already."

"So way further out then?"

"You got it."

"You get that Chicken feed location from Christen?"

"Got the map in my bag some of the seed and feed stores circled. I figure we'll head in that general direction and stop anywhere that looks good along the way"

We returned to silence. Since the truck was lifted, the infected hit the deer guard on the front and easily bounced underneath the truck. Having this much clearance was perfect. 

We passed a McDonald's and my mouth began to water

"I'd kill for a Big Mac," I drooled. 

"Kill, eh?" Meghan raised a brow. 

I froze as I realised what I had said. "It's a figure of speech, I didn't mean literally."

"I know that, It's just, you've seemed a little bit different since you arrived. Like the way you reacted when Tobin brought up you having a bruised neck. I don't really buy the whole  _you falling down some stairs story,_ by the way."

I sucked in a breath. Meghan sure picked up on a lot of things, especially when you didn't want her to. 

I wiped at some imaginary dirt on my pants. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can tell me. I won't judge."

when I said nothing in response, she sighed. "Fine"

We sat in silence for an awkward pause before I turned to her. 

"You remember us telling you about that guy who held us prisoner at the police station?"

"Riley?"

I nodded and the words rushed from  my lips, "Well he found me at the medic centre I was raiding for antibiotics. He tried to kill me, but I killed him first. That's where I got the bruises on my neck. And when we were at the apartments I stabbed one of my would-be kidnappers in the lung and he died choking on his own blood." I had to stop to take a breath, "Then when I was on that return run two days ago with Heather and Christie, I had to shoot two more of those asshole mercenaries."

Meghan let my confession hang in the air a bit before she finally piped in. 

"You did what you had to do. Don't you dare be ashamed of that. All those people had it coming. It's not like you went after them; they came after you."

 

After all this time struggling with the fact that I had killed actual human beings, it was a huge relief to hear someone say that. I turned to look out my window and tried to inconspicuously wipe away the tear that had managed to slip down my cheek. I had held onto that burden for so long, it was eating away at me like a parasite and for some reason I found it easier to tell Meghan all this. 

Meghan turned the truck abruptly, ruining my moment of tranquillity. I had to brace myself on the centre console to stop my ribs from becoming better acquainted with the hard unit. 

"What the hell, Meghan?" I demanded.

"we're taking a little detour," was all she said.

I looked around the area, spotting the road sign claiming that the college campus was five miles down the road. 

"To the college?" I asked. "No way, I've done my time."

She shot me a grin, "We can hit up the dorms. Most stores in the city have already been picked clean, so we need to find places that people wouldn't have though of at first."

"All we'd find, if we found anything at all, would be Cheetos and ramen noodles," I pointed out.

"Better than no food. If broke college students can live off it, then so can we."

I had no response to that. 

The campus was rather big and the college itself was a dated set of dark brown buildings. 

"Which of these buildings are the dorms?" I asked. All the structures looked the same to me. 

"Don't know. Once we get close enough, we can look in the doors."

Meghan drove up over the curb, the suspension groaning with the effort and pulled up to the first set of foors. The lifted truck was also good for running over curbs. There was a group of infected hanging off to one side like a clique of smokers at a high school. We got out of the truck as they started towards us. I lifted my loaded Beretta and took out the five of them, with precise and silent shots. 

"I have to say, I didn't expect you to turn out to be a good shot."

I glared at her. "Rude"

She just grinned as she hefted her backpack on. I made sure to grab my own, the extra bullets jingling at the bottom. All we needed now was a handful of two hundred dollar textbooks that we wouldn't crack open until midterms, to complete the college freshman look. 

Meghan approached the double doors and looked in. 

"I think this is the classrooms. Let's try the next one."

We jogged over to the next building, dispatching the other infected roused by our presence. Meghan looked in the grimy new set of doors, and then pulled it open. 

"I take it this is the dorms?" 

"I can't know for sure, but it looks like it."

We rushed into the lobby area with our guns at the ready only to be met with another set of doors that wouldn't open. 

"You brought an axe, right?" Meghan turned to me. 

"Yeah"

So we went back outside to grab the axe, presumably to break the glass interior doors. More infected had gathered on the grounds like we had announced there would be free beer. Meghan unlocked the truck and yanked out my trusty axe. I had to take out an infected that had snuck around the truck, lunging at us from the grill. It fell face first onto the ground by Meghan's feet. 

"We're gonna be surrounded soon," I said nervously as I looked around at all the infected closing in on us.

The city population of infected was far more than out at the cabin or even the small towns we had been to. Kind of seemed like a bad place to be at the moment, like getting caught in a dark alley at night.

"Come on," Meghan spurred me on and together we ran back to the doors.

She swung with brute force at an infected that now stood in front of the doors. Decayed skin was splayed all over the door and the pinging sound of teeth hitting the glass rang out. Meghan had hit the thing so hard that half of its face was now decorating the glass; but it still stirred from its new spot on the ground. 

Meghan loomed over it and used the blunt end of the axe to crush in the infected's skull. It cracked like a clay-pot and stopped moving. She shoved the body out of the way and we re-entered the building just as a bunch more infected made it to the sidewalk a few meters away. I didn't want to use any bullets unless I absolutely had to. 

"How do we keep these doors shut?" I asked. 

Through the thin rectangular window in one of the doors, I could see the infected closing in.

"Hold this." Meghan passed me the axe and ripped into her backpack. 

She produced some black zip-ties, using them to bind together the two door handles. 

"You're really prepared," I said, slightly impressed. 

Meghan just nodded at my compliment and took the axe back. The infected had now reached the double doors and started to scrape along the giant wooden doors. I was having a flashback to the time we were in Walmart. 

"We need to get out of their sight-line so they calm down." Meghan grabbed my shoulder to get me moving. 

"You think they're attracted to movement?"

"Movement and sound, I think. Not like I really want to test that theory, though."

We passed the cubby-holes filled with undelivered mail and I guessed we had chosen the right building after all. Meghan pointed to the sign on the ceiling. 

"Cafeteria first."

After following the arrows and signs, we arrived at the cafeteria entrance. The metal doors were wide open and the inside resembled a food court with fast-food booths lining the walls and tables bolted to the floor. 

"Man this place puts my school to shame," I muttered. 

"Maybe we'll find something still good inside these places. I'll take the right side, you take the left."

I nodded and pointed to the still full vending machines near us. "and we can grab all that on our way out too." Not that chocolate bars and chips were a great choice, but it beat nothing. 

We broke apart and started our search and seize mission. There was an infected in a school hoodie sitting on one of the plastic chairs and as I passed by it stirred, reaching towards me. Out of instinct, I slapped the boney hand away from me. I looked down in horror at my hand and quickly wiped my palm on my pants. 

"Ew, ew, ew, so much ew."

The infected decided to get up instead. The hoodie it was wearing hung on its emaciated form like a really ugly dress that was three sizes too big. I took a few steps back and shot it in the head, seeing as Meghan still had my axe. It was jolted backwards, landing back in the chair limp and relaxed. 

There were a few other infected stationed all over the cafeteria, but not so many as to be an issue. I would deal with them when I had to. There was no sense in possibly wasting ammo trying to aim from here. 

I leaned over a counter of the Subway booth, making sure nothing was hiding on the other side. Looping a leg over, I jumped to the other side. There was a display of chips and a cooler full of bottled pop and water. I looked around hoping to find bags to load up, but all I found were the extremely unhandy sub bags. 

After taking off my backpack, I opened it to fish out the empty plastic bags we had been sent with. The were light, took up very little room and would work well. I got to work filling what I thought we could use. Two full bags later, I placed them on the counter. 

All the breads and meats had gone really bad. The trays of condiments were covered in greenish film of fuzz. There was a door leading to a small backroom, but the smell alone made me stay away. I figured maybe the taco stand would have tortilla chips that we could still use, so I hoped back over to check out the other booth. 

It turns out the taco stand had a bunch of supersized bags of corn chips under the counter that were still sealed. A pretty good find, I'd say. The bags rattled as I piled them on the counter drawing in the infected. Sound did seem to spur them on as Meghan has said. I hadn't heard anything from her in the past ten minutes, so I tried to spot her on the other side of the room. 

There were tacky, fake palm trees in the middle of the cafeteria obscuring my view of the other half of the room. Why did food courts always think a splash of green would liven up the place? All they did was provide a place to dump your tray when you were too lazy to find a garbage bin.

My ears picked up the sound of scraping along the floor behind me. An infected wearing the taco stand uniform emerged from the backroom, a low rumbling in its chest. I drew my gun and put two bullets in it, blowing off the dorky pin-striped hat in the process; just for the kicks. 

 

I jumped back over the counter, now intent on finding Meghan. Splitting up always made for trouble; we should have stuck together even if it meant the process took longer. I shot at the nearest infected stumbling through the sea of tables and chairs as I zig-zagged through. Pushing aside some of the fake tree branches, I finally could see the other side. I walked through only to be met with a group of infected to my left lying in wait. 

In panic, I lit up the group, repeatedly pulling the trigger. My arm was shaking from the surprise and my aim suffered for it; I had only killed one before the Beretta clicked empty and the slide of gun popped back just to rub it in. Time for plan B. 

Run. 

I turned on my heels and ran away from the approaching group.  _Where the hell was Meghan?_ I tried to maneuver my backpack off to reach for the spare magazine, but managed to slip on something wet, crashing down to the hard linoleum. 

The gun slid from my grasp and skittered underneath a nearby table. I struggled to untangle myself from my backpack and get to my gun, but kept slipping on whatever had caused me to fall. I looked down at the red staining my hands and clothes; I had fallen in blood. I was surrounded by a pool of thick, congealed blood. 

My gag reflexes kicked in as I continued to slip around in the sticky substance like I was wading through an oil spill on top of a lake.  _Please don't be Meghan's blood._ I gave up trying to get free of my backpack as the infected drew closer and tried to crawl away, my feet went out from under me as I scrambled to catch myself, my chin smashing into the floor.

Even though I was now seeing stars, I could hear the infected right behind me. Still on my hands and knees, I scuttled towards the booth where my Beretta had landed, ignoring the pain shooting through my head. I dove under the table, now facing a wall with the tattered booth surrounding me on both sides. I had just effectively trapped myself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is possibly the first chapter I've updated without reading it about 100 times before posting it, looking for mistakes. So I apologise for any Typos, but It took me forever to type all this up and to be frank, i'm just being lazy by not proof-reading this. I committed myself to updating the story by starting this chapter tonight, then after about 20 minutes I got bored so I'd imagine there will be a few mistakes


	75. 411 or 420?

As the group of infected closed in, dread began to settle in my stomach. I ripped off my backpack and rooted around for the extra magazine I had stashed. 

"Fuck!"

I fumbled around in the bag before my fingers finally wrapped around it; then I fiddled with my Beretta trying to get the empty magazine to eject, but it was difficult when your fingers were coated in blood. As soon as the empty one clattered to the floor, I jammed the full magazine in just in time to see the first infected drop to the ground in front of me. 

It reached towards me and I gave it the honour of receiving the first bullet in my magazine. I cocked the gun and put the barrel right against its forehead, pulling the trigger. Brain matter flew out of both sides of the bullet wound and the thing slumped down with a thud. 

"Ugh, gross." I muttered as I wiped away the pieces of brain I had been back splattered with. 

A second infected had managed to trip itself on the dead legs of the first one. I aimed at its now floor-level snapping face and shot it at point blank range. While I was occupied with the first two, a third infected had managed to crawl underneath the table. It seemed to be in pretty good condition as far as decay went. No limbs were missing or chunks of flesh removed. 

It grabbed at my ankle, pulling itself to me. The trail of blood I had brought with me made it easier for the infected to shimmy towards me on its belly. I couldn't help myself, I screamed bloody murder as I used the butt of my gun to bash its head in. The infected just continued to snarl and snap away despite the brain damage i was giving it. 

Then, as suddenly as the thing had grabbed me, it was gone. The body was pulled backwards, its fingers digging into the linoleum. I watched as a heavy boot came down again and again until the head no longer existed, instead, just a pile of pulp. I sat there for a second to get my bearings and gather all the items spilled from my backpack during the frantic search for my spare magazine. 

The figure kneeled down, showing me her face. Meghan reached her hand under for me to take and pulled me to my feet. 

"Holy shit." She paled at the sight of me, covered in blood. "You bit?"

She checked me over rather intrusively to see if I was bit anywhere. 

"What? You're not even going to buy me dinner first?" Was all I could think to say. Meghan stopped what she was doing; she actually had the good graces to look embarrassed. 

"I take it you're fine if you an crack a joke," She glared at me, "Why are you covered in blood?" 

"I slipped and fell in some." My face scrunched up as I looked down at myself.  I was literally covered in the stuff. I started to giggle and then burst into full-fledged laughter at the sight I must have been. 

"Sometimes I wonder about you," Meghan said as she rolled her eyes at my outburst of hysterical laughter. 

I laughed even harder at her words. I felt the exact same way about her. 

"It's always me," I muttered as my laughing subsided. 

"Seriously though, are you okay?"

"Yeah, no bites or scratches, but I think I might have re-injured my elbow when I fell," I said cradling my left arm. It was starting to throb again. 

"Let me see," Meghan said checking my elbow over. "I don't think anything is broken, there's no discoloration of the skin, but I'd have the surgeon take a look at it when we get back."

 

Meghan was still holding my arm as we just stood staring at each other. She moved in closer, her hands aiming for my face. For a brief moment of horror, I thought she was going to try and kiss me. Instead she pulled her hand away, dropping something wet sounding to the ground. 

"You have some brain in your hair." Meghan said. 

I stared down at the grey matter on the bloody floor. 

"That's so gross." I sighed. 

"You kind of look a mess. Let's check some of the dorm rooms and get you some clean clothes."

"I look like that girl from Carrie,"

"Except that's probably not Pig's blood."

I shot her a sharp look. "Thanks, but I'm trying not to think about that."

We finished checking a few more booths, but found more or less the same thing in each; a pile of rotten food and pop. Meghan used the axe to break into the vending machines at the cafeteria entrance. 

Since the front was made of Plexiglas, it was harder to get into because it didn't shatter like regular glass. The plastic sheet rippled as the axe got wedged right in the centre. Meghan shoved the axe further in and down, then yanked back like she was trying to win a game of Tug-Of-War. The window came out in one piece, almost taking me out in the process. 

"watch it!" I yelled as I danced to the side to avoid being impaled by the sheet of Plexiglas. 

We filled our bags with the junk food and started back down the hall in search of stairs. I had tried to wipe off the blood on my hands, but my fingers were still starting to stick together. Where were wet-naps when you needed them?

Meghan pointed to a staircase. 

"You think these are the ones we need?"

"They go up, don't they?" 

_Jackass._

So I followed her up, the bottom of my shoes starting to stick with each step. This had to be one of the grossest moments of my life. We tried to open the door for the second floor, but there was something blocking it on the other side. The small window was covered from the inside by something with a wood-grain finish. 

"Looks like they pushed some furniture up against it," Meghan commented. 

"Like a barricade?"

Meghan nodded. That could only mean they were trying to keep something out. I wrapped my blood stained fingers around the handle of my Beretta just a little bit tighter. Maybe they were trying to keep a barrage of infected out; infected that could be on the stairs. 

We tried to look up the rest of the flight of stairs, but the sparse windows were making it difficult to see. 

"Think we should keep going?" I asked. 

"You want to go in those clothes?" 

"No."

So we continued up to the third floor landing. As soon as we opened the door, we immediately backed out into the stairwell again fighting the urge to gag. The door was doing a good job of keeping the smell inside. There had to be numerous dead bodies to make an odour like that. 

Meghan was the first to get her legs back, "So Fourth floor?"

"Oh yeah."

The next floor was neither blocked nor smelt like a morgue after a long power outage. There were smears of blood on some of the walls, but no bodies. It seemed to be leading to the room number 411.

"I vote we skip that room," I pointed down the hall to the door where the blood smears stopped and the frame was a mess of bloody hand prints. 

We started to scour the closest rooms that we could open without a key. After tearing apart three rooms, I finally found one that looked like it belonged to a girl. First, I checked the room to make sure nothing would be jumping out from behind a door or under the bed. Then I proceeded to yank open the drawers on the dresser. 

I shuffled through and produced a couple of brand new T-shirts that would work. Unfortunately the last drawer was filled with mainly skirts and sweats. I pulled out a pair of black sweats and cringed at the backside. 

"Why does it say Pink when the pants are black?" I shook my head. 

"A question for the ages," I jumped a foot in the air at Meghan's voice. 

"Seriously, don't do that again." I chastised her. My heart was going a mile a minute. 

"You need to be more aware. What if I was an infected?" Meghan went on. 

"An infected wouldn't have tip-toed in here." 

Instead of replying, Meghan tossed a towel at me. 

"I found the bathrooms and the showers still work. There must still be a bit of water left in the tanks."

She led me down to the communal showers. 

"I already checked that nothing was in there. I'll stand guard out here. I brought you a first aid kit so when you're done, I can wrap your elbow. Don't take too long."

"Not sure how quick I can be when I'm scraping brains out of my hair," I said as I opened the door. 

Just to be extra cautions, I re-canvased the bathroom. I found a shower stall at the end and tried the tap. The pipes groaned in the walls, the spout sputtering with off-coloured water before a steady stream formed. I quickly stripped off my dirty clothes, flinging them to the ground and hopped under the freeing stream. My breath caught in my lungs from the shock of the cold. 

Trying to ignore the ice coating my skin, I hurriedly scrubbed the crusted blood from my skin until it felt raw. My elbow didn't appreciate the movement, but I tried to ignore the ebb of pain. I hadn't thought to grab soap or shampoo so I was only able to rinse myself off. The blood ran off of me like melting snow, swirling around the drain until it ran red no more. I ran my hands through my wet hair over and over again for good measure, making sure I got all the brain out. I chuckled to myself at the absurdity of that. Good thing I wasn't scarred for life or anything. 

Using the scratchy towel, I dried off and put on my borrowed clothes. The shirt was a bit tight, but the sweats were a good fit. I opened the door to find Meghan was gone. So much for standing guard. 

"Meghan!" I hissed down the hall. 

Trying to make as little noise as possible, I held my breath and listened to see if I could hear her nearby. When I couldn't I pick up on anything, I started further down the hall with my Beretta at the forefront. Door after door revealed that Meghan was nowhere to be seen. 

I continued down to the end of the hall, running past 411; of which, the door was now closed. When I got to the last dorm, I spotted Meghan's back to me. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I said enraged.

She turned to me and held up a baggie. 

"You left me unguarded for pot!?"

Meghan pointed to the floor, "And cup of soups."

I noticed the plastic shopping bag at her feet overflowing with Styrofoam cups and dried noodles. 

"Besides, you're fine and I made sure to check all the open rooms for infected or otherwise." 

She must have been the one who closed 411, sparing me the sight of whatever was inside. 

"something could have attacked me while i was showering!"

"Like I said, you're fine." She said like my concern was pointless. 

I pointed to the bag of pre-rolled doobies. "Let me guess, this is the real reason we came to college, right?"

Meghan grinned, "Food was my main thought, but I figured there'd be a high chance we'd find some."

I sighed, "You better be sharing that."

"I was thinking we head to the roof and light one up. Not like there are schedules anymore."

"Well we do have a stockpile of junk food," I mused. "Why not." I shrugged, my anger dissipating. After the week I'd had, getting stoned seemed like a reprieve. And it was probably the best offer I've ever heard since this all started. Plus, my elbow was bugging me and nothing like a little pot to help with the pain. 

"Now that you're all cleaned up, Let's take a look at that elbow," Meghan said as she walked towards me. 

She bent down and dug through her backpack, producing a white plastic box with a red cross on it. Inside was the usual fair; bandages, scissors, peroxide, gauze. she pulled out the light brown elastic wraps that one would use for a sprained ankle. After unravelling it, Meghan stood up and tightly wound it around my elbow, tying off the ends. The pressure turned the pain into a dull ache, but it made the pain far more manageable. 

"Thanks," I said as I inspected my newly wrapped appendage. 

I wonder after all the injury to my elbow; if it was going to be permanently messed up. 

"Take a couple of these to help with the swelling." Meghan plunked two pills in my hand. 

At my curious stare Meghan said, "Ibuprofen helps reduce swelling." I nodded and swallowed them dry. 

We headed back to the stairs and climbed up to the roof, ignoring the warning sign, we opened the door only to be blinded by the light. The sun was a few hours away from setting, so the orange light was shining in between buildings, reflecting off of the glass. It would make a great postcard picture for New Orleans. 

"Hold the door open while I look for something to prop it open with," Meghan commanded. 

She took off in search of something heavy. I looked down to my left to see a cement block sitting there. Clearly, the students never heeded the warning on the door either. I picked up the heavy block and used it to stop the door from closing. 

Meghan's eyes bulged from her head when I came up beside her.

"What are you doing? you want to be locked up here?"

"Calm down, there was a cement block right beside the door, Sherlock."

I found some lounger chairs, I guess the students used the roof as a hangout spot," Meghan said pointing to the cushioned loungers. 

I sat down on the chair to the left and laid back to enjoy the view. 


End file.
